Guddy: I just arrived Edo state yesterday and I was so baffled at the rate at which people use the w202 c class in this state. From the capital city, Benin, to all other towns, car lots and roads have a good number of this car. I made enquiries why the users like the car and they all have a couple of good things to say about the cars ranging from economy, durability, style, etc.

kuntash:

another thing I noticed, it seems our brothers from the northern part of the country have mounted pressure on this range of cars thus driving its price up.

benz1x:

Not only them, the Edo people too.

Seriously though, a friend of mine wanted to import the car from France. On a good day, if you have 600k, you should be able to purchase, ship and clear a clean w202. People have been doing it.. My friend wanted to bring one in but his budget of 600k was not enough because according to his person in France, the sellers said the demand for the car from Nigeria was high.


Anyway, Kuntash, could you please help me? I need to know the correct fluids and plugs to use in my newly acquired w202 C220. I stay in Benin and despite the fact that the roads are flooded with w202s, the mechanics are not very smart. Please I want to know the acceptable fluids. For instance, I know that the green coolant is bad, but I dont know which one is acceptable.

Thanks in advance.

ziccoit:

I'm quoting you verbatim now.

" My newbie questions. As you know, in Nigeria, OEM or manufacturer specific items may not be that easy to find hence the following questions
1) What engine oil to use. I know Mobil 1 but I have not seen any mineral oil of 0w-40, 5w-40 or even 10w-40. I know I should ordinarily use Mobil 1 0w-40 but because of the high mileage of the car 210,000, some are speculating that the oil will be too thin for the engine due to the wear and tear it must have accumulated over time and as a result, leakages will occur. Is there any truth to this or can I just go ahead and use Mobil 1 0w-40. If I cant use Mobil 1, whats the next best available oil for me to use.

2) What coolant to use? This was another controversial topic and I would like to learn from my Seniors in the W202 family what is good enough to run my baby.

3) How often to replace the coolant

4) What brake fluid to use and how often to change it?

5) What steering fluid to use and how often to change it?

6) What Automatic Transmission Fluid to use and how often to change it? (mine is a manual transmission though)

7) What spark plugs to use and how often to change them. Also, what can be used if OEM plugs cannot be found? Can autolite plugs serve as a replacement?

8 ) How often should the MAF be cleaned or changed

9) How often should the fuel filter be changed

10) How often should the throttle body/actuator be cleaned/changed.

11) What are the recommended tire sizes and PSI

12) Anything else I may have left out that is important.

PLEASE NOTE, I LIVE IN BENIN.
Thanks."

mex551: Good afternoon gentlemen, I love the contributions in this forum. May God bless u all. Reading through all this post would certainly add to ones experience about mercedez. To be frank, I did not know much about Mercedes before now. Two weeks ago, I bought a class c240 espirit 2001 model, honestly before then, I didn't know that it has 12 plugs,, though the mechanic said its 6 cylinder. It's my first merc. Experience and am enjoying the ride. Reading through all most all these post, I hardly see anyone talk about c240 2001 model and even on the streets of Benin where I live, c240 is rare. Au.hanson and other gurus in the house, can some one tell me about the issues with c240 and other things that might be of help to me. Thanks.

Gee2728: That's all I cld achieve with a full tank of fuel on city drive.... 306miles.

danadam:

i'm not sure I can achieve 306 miles wit my w203 but i'm gonna give a trial. truth is... I don't bother myself much bout mpg. I won't have bought a v6 benz if I was much concerned bout mpg. nevertheless, it will be nice to know if my ride is actually performing optimally... mpg wise.

danadam: My W203 dilemma
I had noticed that my C320 4matic driving shaft makes that dreaded knocking sound whenever i make a u-turn. I checked it up and discovered the left side shaft hose opened. Took it to the workshop and fixed the hose back after applying some grease for lubrication. checked it a month later and I discovered the same thing. The knocking sound had also increased so decided to change the two front shaft, that's when I got the shock... The two front shaft is gonna cost me 130k and it has to be ordered for from lagos. searched for it in kano but didn't get to see any. 130k no be small money ooh. will be glad if anyone out here can help me confirm the price in his locality. the car is a 2005 C320 4matic.

Gee2728: That's all I cld achieve with a full tank of fuel on city drive.... 306miles.

smartchoice: wow okay I will give you some one's number in Lagos but can't/don't want to post it here without his permission....but I'd send it to you if you can post your email/fone here

yungboss:
thought BMW was more costly to maintain

I then had to put about $3K into the engine 7.5 years after buying it. Finally the last straw was when the control arms had to be replaced for the third time. Got me for a tie rod assembly too-- almost $3K. This car is like an abusive spouse . Each time I thought it would be the last expensive repair. It never was.

femionasan: I follow this thread religiously and it is quite informative, just noticed that there are hardly any W204 users on here, in any case I would like to talk about one particular problem anyone planning to buy 2008-2010 W204 should expect. In some Benz forums online it is quite common to hear of an owner parking his/her car at the mall, work, home anywhere, when the owner gets back to the car opens the doors with the remote control, step into your ride slot the key in the ignition and turn it and bam!!! Nothing happens, steering is locked, dashboard lights dont come on, nothing. What has happened here is that the Electronic Steering lock (ESL) or the Electronic ignition system (EIS) has packed up. The best option to remedy this problem here in Nigeria is to go to a reputable Benz dealer and it could take a 4-6weeks to order the parts and receive them, pls note that this part can only and I mean only be sourced directly from MB in Germany through a dealer in Nigeria replacing it with a used part will not work cos the EIS and the ESL are programmed solely for that particular car. I still have mine with MB place in Lekki and I spent a ton of money prior to taking it there with so called Benz experts saying all sorts and collecting money with no solution. If Any W204 user has this problem, my advice to you is to look for a Benz dealership that has direct access to order parts from MB Germany. I will post some of the things I found out about ordering these parts and why it takes so long to get them later.

kuntash:


Hydraulic Fluid is any Good DOT-4 (must be DOT4, else u are on ur own)

For plugs, see below...

GPSERIES PLUG BKR5EGP NGK7090
IXIRIDIUM PLUG BKR5EIX NGK6341
STANDARD PLUG BKR5ES NGK2460
VPOWER PLUG BKR5E NGK7938

For Lubricant- Engine oil, patronize 5w-40 , 10w-40 synthetic engine oils, ..... you can contact me if you need any of these..... even in Benin city

The yellow Coolant from Havoline is the recommended one, and I have checked all d while I used mine and was unable to find.... best bet for you is to use a condensed water from the home airconditioners ... ( i.e the water that comes from the AC) its better than most coolants.


Lest I 4get.... NEVER, NEVER. I MEAN NNNNNEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEERRRRR... allow any incompetent electrician to mess up that car by attempting to bypass any connection..

smartchoice:

@Gee2728 I don't think anything is wrong with your car given the following stats and review by a user of c230

1997 C230 Fuel Economy...
________________________________________
So I've always thought the C230 had decent fuel economy. The Consumer Reports Auto Issue came out today. On page 31 they list cars to purchase if "overall" fuel economy is import to you.

What surprised me is that the 1997 C230 has equal or better economy than the Honda Accord Hybrid (25 mpg), Toyota Matrix (26), Acura RSX (26), and Honda Civic (26) and has darn close economy compared to Mazda 3 (27), Toyota Celica (28) and Toyota Corolla (29). I think, though, that most of these run on regaular unleaded, rather than the high test, expensive stuff the Mercedes requires.

I drive the piss out of the C230, mostly in urban and suburban conditions with maybe 20% highway. Today, on Winter blend fuel, I put in 15.17 gallons to cover 395 miles. That's 26 miles per gallon. On Summer blend it's slightly better. On a pure highway, cruise set on 70, trip I once went almost 600 miles on just over 15 gallons. That's almost 40 mpg. (Keep in mind about this figure that, with the high final drive ratio, anything over about 70 really cuts into efficiency).

Not the smoothest bugger out there, but relatively powerful and DARN efficient!
Source: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/tech-help/117054-1997-c230-fuel-economy.html


Based on your estimates of 306miles to a full tank assuming like3- 5litres was still remaining in your tank….hence we work with 60 litres as full tank, then you have your calculated fuel data below:

litre per 100 km (l/100km) 12.43

km per litre (km/l) 8.047

mile per British gallon (mpg) 22.73
British gallon per 100 miles 4.399
mile per litre 5

benz1x:

Thank you so much for your response.

I think they already bypassed the fan. The fan comes on immediately I start the car. I will have it reverted to factory settings at the end of the month.

I have seen 0w-40 (Mobil 1) and 5w-40 (Total) but I havent seen 10w-40 anywhere.

Also, in reference to the condensed water, do you mean condensed water from the AC alone, or mixed with coolant? I thought the whole idea of the coolant is to lubricate the water pump (to prevent rust) and also raise the boiling point of the water?

Thanks.

Gee2728: That's all I cld achieve with a full tank of fuel on city drive.... 306miles.

ziccoit:

Where can I get the recommended MB ATF fluid and how much. Remember mine is 5-SP. I got to know that the fluid should meet MB 236.10 spec sheet. I will need 7.5L

Thank you all.

ziccoit: @Eyop, Smartchoice, Kuntash, benz1x, aikerism, jahjehova, Gee2728, au.hanson and others too numerous to mention here; thank you all for the well wishes and encouragement.

When I finally got delivery of my car, I noticed the following.

1. Coolant, Brake, engine oil and windshield washer low fluid lights as well as ABS and brake pad lights were on when I start the engine. Making the instrument cluster looked like Christmas tree.

2. The Odometer, temp gauge, tachometer and speedometer were not functioning.

3. The automatic climate control unit is not working

4. The coolant fan starts running immediately the carb is on.

5. I saw a can of Dextron III ATF fluid in the boot. When I contacted him; he said he actually put the oil into the transmission! Harshhhhhh . The transmission runs fine, very smooth but I need to drain it before it starts causing damages.

So far, I have been able to solve problem 1 & 2 by removing the instrument cluster. I gently cleaned the pins and everything backed to normal. A "rewire" I called to look into this said I should not bother that "everything will later go". Lol! Clown.

3&4 may be related. I need to change the automatic climate control unit and reprogram it for my car model.

for 5, I have to park the car looking for the recommended MB transmission fluid.

Please house.

Where can I get the recommended MB ATF fluid and how much. Remember mine is 5-SP. I got to know that the fluid should meet MB 236.10 spec sheet. I will need 7.5L

Where can I get automatic climate control unit and how much? I know how to reprogram the stuff to meet my car model.

Thank you all.

kuntash:

almost 500km with a fuel tank of 62-65 litres, I think its very very fair.

its also good to note that whether its a V6 - C280 or a straight -4, the diff between them in MPG are small.

just as I have stated in the BMW forum, same applies for 3.0 litre & 2.5 litre of BMW E46, you can seldom notice difference in their consumption ofcourse when everything works the way they should.

Moreso, our petrol here are of poor quality, if u wanna know, get a tokunbo ride thats never tasted naija fuel and take the fuel in the tank for lab test... u would know what I am talking..

the problem of most Benz as from w202 is that most of its emission and combustion systems are vacuum dependent, and as the car goes old, these tubes, hoses tend to degrade and thus causing a leak.. sometimes these could pose a big challenge whilst tracing the cause of your leak.

however, when the system is really air-tight with no single leak, you can achieve good fuel-mileage that can even surpass many Asian cars.

Gee2728:

Benz branded ATF is sold at almost every corner in kaduna. Its so easy 2 get down here. It cost 1K8 for 2 litre.

Gee2728:

Benz branded ATF is sold at almost every corner in kaduna. Its so easy 2 get down here. It cost 1K8 for 2 litre.

jonaboy: . Please can you give me a specific place to get it in KD, I live in KD and would be glad to know where I can get it,thanks.