Hello,
I am just checking to see what interval you guys use for oil changes. I do my own oil changes on my crossfire and I've been using 3,000 - 4,000 mile intervals. Also, when I went to the dealer to get the oil filter for my last oil change, they gave me a filter made of paper. I told them that I thought DC had replaced it with a new "fleece" filter, but the parts salesman said that this filter was the only one for my car. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

The dealer is just dumping his old stock. Changing the oil every 3 - 4K miles may be a bit excessive. I am not much better, I change mine about every 4 - 5K miles, which ends up being about twice a year. I wouldn't be concerned about using the paper filter since you're changing your oil at about half the recommended interval. The new filter is suppose to be better, but there has been many years of successful use by MB with the paper filter.

 

blacklimited,

Do a search for "FSS", which is the Flexible Service System. Let the car tell you when it's ready for an oil change and save yourself a bunch of time and money.

 

two oil changes a year... man must be nice. mine is like every couple months. so is the crossfire safe to run 5k without changing the oil?

 

Thanks for the help guys - I am going to change the oil this weekend and reset the FSS. Does anyone know if the FSS has a sensor in the oil to determine when it needs to be changed? Or is it just based on time and miles driven?

 

The FSS is suppose to be based upon mileage and time. I believe the mileage is 7,500 miles, but not sure over what period. I am guessing 3 months. I don't worry about the time since we are using synthetic oil there isn't any chemical breakdown to be concerned with as with standard oil. Yes, I do believe it is safe to run 5,000 miles between oil changes since 70% of my travel time is on the Interstate above 70 mph. If I did a lot of city driving with a lot of idling I probably would change it more often since that kind of driving is really hard on a car.

 

Trust the FSS. My last two oil changes have been at just a tad over 9,000 miles.

 

So sayeth the service manual:

DESCRIPTION - FLEXIBLE SERVICE SYSTEM (FSS)
The Flexible Service System (FSS) is a demand-activated engine oil service system. The FSS will illuminate a symbol (2) in the instrument cluster to indicate to the driver when a particular service is due. After a level has dropped below a warning threshold, the remaining distance or the remaining time and the tool symbol (2) are displayed in the panel of the odometer. The FSS is supplied the time intervals from the digital clock in the instrument cluster. The remaining information is supplied by the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) and the Controller Antilock Brake (CAB) via the Controller Area Network (CAN) data bus.

The data required for FSS from the CAN includes the following:
² The four wheel speed sensors from the CAB.
² Coolant temperature from the PCM.
² Engine speed from the PCM.
² Load torque from the PCM.

MAIN ODOMETER
This shows the total distance the vehicle has traveled. The FSS permits a flexible service schedule that is directly related to the operating conditions of the vehicle. There are two symbols which will appear in the main odometer display field prior to the next suggested service.

This symbol represents Service A. (Picture of one wrench --Bob)

The second symbol represents Service B. (Picture of two wrenches --Bob)

Depending on operating conditions throughout the year, the next service is calculated and displayed next to the this symbol in days remaining before the next service is required. The next service may be calculated and displayed next to this symbol as distance remaining before the next service is
required.

The counter can also be reset by any individual after the indicated service has been performed. To do so:
1. Turn the key to the ON/RUN position.
2. Within one second press the ****/button to the left of the display twice.
3. The present status for days remaining or distance traveled is displayed. Within ten seconds turn the key to OFF.
4. Press and hold the ****/button to the left of the display, while turning the key to ON/RUN again. The present status for days remaining or distance traveled is displayed once more. Continue to hold the ****/button to the left of the display. After approximately ten seconds, a tone sounds and the display shows 6,000 miles (10,000 km) for approximately ten seconds.
5. Release the ****/button to the left of the display.

If the FSS counter was inadvertently reset, the counter must be reset.
The message is displayed for approximately ten seconds when turning the key to the ON/RUN position, or while driving when reaching the service warning threshold. It can be cancelled manually by pressing the ****/button to the left of the display. Once the suggested term has passed, the message, plus either the symbol for Service A or the symbol for Service B preceded by a “–” (minus symbol) blinks for approximately thirty seconds and a tone sounds every time when turning the key to the ON/RUN position. The FSS display can also be called up for approximately ten seconds with the display illuminated by pressing the ****/button to the left of the display twice within one second.
Note: When disconnecting the battery for one or more days at a time, such days will not be counted. Any such days not counted by the FSS can be added. The interval between services is determined by the type of vehicle operation. Driving at extreme speeds, and cold starts combined with short distance driving in which the engine does not reach normal operating temperature, reduce the interval between services.

 

BOBS-

Thank you very much for all of the information. I will reset my FSS after my next oil change and use it from then on.

 

I don't recommend going 9K miles between oil changes even with synthetic oil if you're planning keeping the car. Oil is the life blood of your car and the longer it is in your car the more contaminates it becomes exposed to and those contaminates in the oil will only accelerate your engine wear. If you're planning on keeping the car for the long run change the oil more frequently, but if you in a lease and don't plan on keeping the car past the lease then of course use the FSS.

 

No offense, but the engineers at Mercedes-Benz know a helluva lot more about oil & engines than anyone here on this forum, and I tend to trust their recommendations. If you'll read the post above, you'll notice the FSS takes a lot of things into account when it calculates miles remaining before the oil change, so sometimes it will be more or less than the recommended 6,000 mile interval. Either way I'll venture to bet that its calculations are on the conservative side.

Unless you can provide some documented proof that going 9k between oil changes is harmful I would suggest that you don't believe the hype. I say that because the whole concept of the "every 3,000 miles" oil change was developed by the guys that want to sell you oil and filters, not the manufacturer of the car/engine.

The manufacturing tolerances of modern engines are so much tighter than in the past that much less blow-by and contaminants get into the oil, and so the interval between changes can be longer.

 

None taken. I am not disagreeing that the engineers are very knowledgeable , but keep in mine the recommend maintenance schedule is determined by only what is needed to achieving the average life of the vehicle. My background is electro-mechanical maintenance and my experience has shown me that lubrication and filtration is the leading cause of mechanical failures. Providing that engine you have in your happened to be built within tolerance on that day it was built as where all the sub components, more frequent oil changes can only extend the life of your car if they are preformed correctly. It is true oil company's want to sell more oil, but remember car company's also want to sell more cars. Their prime objective is to produce a car that will last throughout the warranty period without any issues, after that they want you to buy another car.

If you change your own oil it is really no major expense and takes all of about 20 minutes or less. I guess it all depends whether what you save in oil out weighs the cost of maintenance later.

 

bobs/idaho,

excellent arguments on both sides. i think a major consideration for frequency of oil changes should be based on the owner's expectations for length of ownership. if you plan to keep the car for say 10 years/100k miles, the frequency of oil changes is insignificant (as long as they are in line with the manufacturer's recommended interval - for warranty claims or as proof and peace of mind to the buyer when reselling). chances are fair that a crossfire wouldn't suffer any mechanical breakdowns if you never changed the oil during the warranty period - even out to the 7 yr/70k though it might cause problems down the road from wear or sludge buildup. if you've leased a crossfire (39 mo/39k miles) it probably only needs to have the oil changed 4 or 5 times during the life of the lease.

it's when you want to be able to drive 200k, 300k, or more miles that more frequent oil changes can result in a net benefit. but statistically that is the minority of car owners since most people don't keep a car for 5 years much less 10 years. i might keep my crossfire for 30 years, but since i drive it only 5k miles a year, a once a year oil change makes more sense than the actual mileage intervals.

 

Rob I am in 100% agreement with you; it's all about how long you want keep the car.

 

Wondering what the masses think about this question?

I recently bought a 2005 Crossfire that only had 65 miles on it. So I am in the process of breaking it in.

This is advise that several people including mechanics have given me about the break in period and how often to change the oil.

1. I plan to do my first couple of oil changes during the break in period every 3,000 to 3,500 miles. According to mechanics I have talked to over the years; this will get any small / tiny / minute metal shavings and other assorted tiny particles out of the engine that typically arise during the break in period.

2. After the break in period is over go with what the owners manual says. In the case of the Crossfire every 7K miles if primarily hwy miles. Otherwise maybe every 5K if primarily city / stop and go driving.

Now maybe this advise about the break in period is bogus. But I have followed it with the last two cars that I bought brand new.

One was a Nissan Maxima and the other was a Chevy Blazer. The Blazer had 170K miles on it when I sold it. I feel confident I could have gotten another 50K out of it.

I am still driving the Nissan Maxima and it has 234,000 miles on it. I have never had any issues with the motor whatsoever. (Knock on wood.)

I only used conventional oil with both of these cards. So I think I am going to stick to the formula with my Crossfire. Using Syn Oil should make it even better I hope.

Hoping that if I do the same with this Mercedes engine in my Crossfire; I will have good luck also.

Bottom-line is don't mess around with things like oil changes. I am convinced my good luck with prior vehicles is that I ALWAYS got the oil changed at the recommended intervals or even a little earlier than recommended.

I wouldn't go beyond what the manufacturer recommends. Even if the Syn oil doesn't break down after 7K miles; that doesn't mean that your oil filter or something else doesn't need replacing.

 

Just my two cents on this one...

While I agree that the Jiffy Lubes of the world want you to change the oil more frequently; every 3K miles; because it makes them money; the car manufacturers also want you to buy cars more frequently.

So it is in their best interest to have the car wear out sooner rather than later. And preferably have it wear out right after the Warranty expires. The conspiracy theory side of my brain thinks that the auto companies have this down to a science.

I am sure Toyota and Mercedes would all be thrilled if everyone changed their oil every 9K or 10K miles. Sorry I have to disagree with you on this one. The car would probably make it through the Warranty period if you did this. And I am sure those Mercedes engineers have built their cards to do just that.

But soon after the warranty expires I don't like your odds.

The owner's manual for the Crossfire says every 7,500 miles because they are very confident the car would make it through the warranty period if the oil was changed at that interval.

Beyond the warranty period they could care less. They want the car to die at that point and then sell you a new one.

I completely agree that every 3K miles is ridiculous and is a rip-off. You are spot on there. But 9K miles per oil change is a bridge too far for me.

Maybe King Solomon had it right? Split the difference:

(3,000 miles + 7,500 miles) / 2 = 5,250 miles.

 

The car wasn't used very often for the first 2 years, so I changed oil once a year, at around 5k interval. But now I'm traveling much more often, and I'll surely follow the FSS for my next oil change. By the way, I just used the $11 STP oil filter for my last oil change.

 

I have used Mobil-1 in all my cars for many years, and I had an Chevy Astro minivan that went to 250k on the original engine with 10k oil and filter changes from 30k on when I switched it to Mobil-1. I had to have the head gasket replaced at 150k and asked the mechanic to let me know what the cylinder head looked like. The engine was very clean and gave me no trouble, and I donated it when it got to 250k (the rest of the car was wearing out).

I now put all my cars on a 10k oil and filter change interval with Mobil-1 when they go out of warranty, and I have never had any oil issues at all. I plan to follow the FSS recommendation on the Crossfire. Personally, I think more frequent intervals for normal driving service cars is wasteful.

 

This is my first experience with Synthetic oil. So I do need to learn more about it.

I have never used Syn oil before because I have had pretty good luck with conventional oil. Change it about every 5K miles.

I have put 150K+ miles on four different vehicles with this approach and have never blown a head gasket or had any major work done on any of the motors. And to top it off 2 of these 4 were American made. (A Camaro and a Chevy Blazer).

My Camaro has almost 200K on it when I gave it to my brother. He got another 50K out of it before donating it to science.

I drive a lot!!!! So this is a topic near and dear to my heart.

My latest road warrior, A 2000 Nissan Maxima; has 234K miles on it. All on Plain Jane Pennzoil 10W30 conventional every 5K. Never had any issues with the motor. My most expensive issue so far was having to replace a Catalytic converter. Knock on wood the motor is still happy.

I will definitely read up on the Syn Oil a little more. I have always been told that it isn't necessary unless you have a high performance engine. That is what Syn oil was originally designed for as I understand it.

Maybe I need to rethink that and use Syn Oil for my next every day driving road warrior?

FWIW here is a good link on this topic on the 3K mile oil change myth. About half way down is a discussion about Synthetic oil.

http://www.nordicgroup.us/oil.htm#Introduction

Here is an interesting article from consumer reports. They tested 20+ different motor oils in NYC taxi cabs. After 60K miles on over 20 cabs they tore down the engines and did comparisons.

http://www.xs11.com/stories/croil96.htm

Three interesting paragraphs from the article:

"To determine whether frequent oil changes really help, we changed the oil in three cabs every 3,000 miles, using Pennzoil 10W-30. After 60,000 miles, we compared those engines with the engines from our base tests of the same oil, changed every 6,000 miles. We saw no meaningful differences. When Mobil 1 synthetic oil came out, Mobil presented it as an oil that, while expensive, could go 25,000 miles between changes. That claim is no longer being made. But Mobil 1 is still on the market, selling at a premium (along with pricey synthetic competitors from several other companies). And synthetic oil's residual reputation as a long-lasting product may still prompt some people to stretch their oil changes longer than the automaker recommends.

Determining whether synthetic oils last longer than conventional ones would require a separate test protect. To try to get some indication, we put Mobil 1 synthetic into three cabs and changed their oil every 12,000 miles.

We intended to compare the results of these tests with those from the three taxicabs whose Mobil 1 was changed at our normal interval, every 6,000 miles. Unfortunately, two of the three engines using the 12,000-mile interval developed problems. (We couldn't attribute those problems to the oil.) The third engine fared no worse than the three whose oil had been changed at 6,000-mile intervals."