Engine Oils; Brake Fluid; Premium Unleaded Gasoline; Fuel Requirements - Mercedes-Benz 260 E 124 1988 Owner's Manual

Engine Oils

Engine oils are specifically tested
for their suitability in our engines.
Therefore, use only engine oils recom­
mended by us. Information on recom­
mended brands is available at your
authorized MERCEDES-BENZ dealer.

Brake Fluid

During vehicle operation, the boiling
point of the brake fluid is continuously
reduced through the absorption of
moisture from the atmosphere. Under
extremely hard operating conditions,
this moisture content can lead to the
formation of vapor in the system thus
reducing the system 's efficiency.
The brake fluid must therefore be
replaced annually, preferably in the
spring.
It is recommended to use only brake
fluid approved by MERCEDES-BENZ.
Your authorized MERCEDES-BENZ
dealer will provide you with additional
information.

Premium Unleaded Gasoline

Caution!
To maintain the engines durability
and performance, premium unleaded
gasoline must be used. If premium un­
leaded is not available and low octane
fuel is used, follow these precautions:
• have the fuel tank filled only par­
tially with unleaded regular and fill
up with premium unleaded as
soon as possible,
• avoid full throttle driving and ab­
rupt acceleration,
• do not exceed an engine speed of
rpm, if the vehicle is loaded
2 0 0 0
with a light load such as two per­
sons and no luggage,
• do not exceed of maximum
2 / 3
accelerator pedal position, if the
vehicle is fully loaded or operating
in mountainous terrain.

Fuel Requirements

Use only Premium unleaded meeting
ASTM standard D 439:
The octane number (posted at the
pump) must be 91 min. It is an aver­
age of both, the Research (R) octane
number and the Motor (M) octane
number: [(R +M )/2]. This is also
known as ANTI-KNOCK INDEX.
Unleaded gasoline containing oxyge­
nates such as Ethanol, MTBE, IPA,
I BA and TBA can be used provided
the ratio of either one of these oxy­
genates to gasoline does not exceed
10 %.
The ratio of Methanol to gasoline must
not exceed 3% plus additional cosol­
vents.
Using mixtures of Ethanol and Metha­
nol is not allowed. MTBE may, how­
ever, be added up to 15%. Gasohol,
which contains 10% Ethanol and 90%
unleaded gasoline, can be used.
These blends must also meet all other
fuel requirements such as resistance
to spark knock, boiling range, vapor
pressure, etc..