The Oil Filter & Seals

[TheEngineer]

Yesterday I changed the oil filter MB 000-180-00-09. It comes with one new large o-ring and the copper seal ring for the engine oil drain plug. But there are four additional seals: A tubular rubber seal: MB 000-184-33-80, a rubber seal in the bottom of the canister: MB 000-184-17-80 and a small flat rubber seal: MB 000-184-32-80. All those seals were rock-hard and I suspect they were never changed. But I do have receipts for timely filter changes done by “Qualified Repair Shops”. Next time, you bring in your car for a filter change, ask for the old parts!!!!!!!!!  The new filter element won’t seal right when the other rubber seals have lost their elasticity.[:0]

'69 280SL,Signal Red,007537,tired engineer, West-Seattle, WA

[ja17]

Hello,
 These seals are not designed to be replaced at each oil change. However, the top tubular seal may fall off during oil changes and be accidetally left out. If the technician does not know to look for it, years may pass with the oil by-passing the filter altogether!

This top tubular seal and the flat rubber seal in the canister should be changed occassionally when the rubber becomes hard. One should always check to see if the top tubular seal is in place.

Mercedes engines after this series had all these seals built into the oil filter so they would automatically get changed when the filter did.

Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio

[n/a]

One of the metal seals is used on the oil cooler drain plug.  Not a bad idea to drain this when doing oil changes and replace the plug washer.