Zerex G-05 at Wal-mart!
 

Browsing wal-mart lastnight I was suprised to see Zerex G-05 for sale (not ON sale) for $13.99 a gallon!!! too bad I already did my flush in spring...

Never saw it there. Autozone $10.99

That is the same stuff as Ford's Gold coolant, isn't it? Many on the Powerstroke forums are running Fleetrite which is used by International in their trucks because it has better stuff to protect it from cavitation and what not. Anyone every try it?

Supposedly the Zerex G-05 is the same as the MB coolant...rumor is that they are the OEM supplier. It is an approved coolant from MB.

I don't know anything about the Ford coolant.

I just got 3 jugs at NAPA...they seem to be hit or miss with having it in stock. $10 or so a gallon.

Well, I'm in Canada, so maybe it's only in Canadian Wal-marts... NAPA wants $24 a jug

I also have heard that story about Xerex also being equivalent to Mercedes Benz coolant but would not buy any until it was proven to be the same beyond a doubt.

The owner's manual specifies Mercedes Benz coolant. It is crystal clear about that.

It says nothing about substitutes being acceptable.

The saying about being penny wise and pound foolish comes to mind.

here in Toronto the local NAPA store sells it for 18.98 a gallon, I'll check the local walmart to see if they have it.

I can get OE MB coolant for $19.31 per gallon from Phil.

Not having to go to Walmart, or Autozone; priceless.:cool::D

you probably buy Shell fuel because you think shell makes it right? :D

G05 is the same stuff as MB

Got the "yes, I know" nod when I told my service advisor I used it.

Also, got mine for $10 a jug at Autozone. You Walmart buyers are getting ripped off

I'm gonna assume you've never been to canada and noticed the price differential between up there an down here? I have an inkling anything around $13 up there is a pretty sweet price.

While it is true that M-B doesn't promote the use of aftermarket coolants (some would say they don't have a motivation to do so since coolant is one of the few consumables they do private label - coolant and 722.6+ tranny fluid are the two which come to mind) Zerex does claim M-B has approved G-05 in their literature and on the bottle.

Knowing just how touchy M-B is about this it is hard to believe they would let Zerex say this without it being true. My own theory is that Zerex is the supplier of the M-B coolant therefore M-B can't stop them from claiming it is approved for use but won't promote its use as it is then in competition with the private labeled version that M-B has a financial interest in selling. Here is a brochure which states clearly that M-B has approved G-05:

http://www.valvoline.com/zerex/pdf/Zerex_CoolantChart.pdf

I use both M-B and G-05 in my cars...the reason I use G-05 is not because it is half the price of the M-B coolant, but because I can buy it less than a mile from my house whereas I need to drive 20 minutes to the dealer to get the M-B coolant...but being half the price is nice too.

Same as Ford Gold.

What I was wondering was whether anybody has used Fleetrite coolant. It is red and is supposed to be long life.

G-05 is supposed to be good for 5 year/150K miles...how much longer life is there than that?

I usually just drain and replace mine every 2 years. Since I only drain from the radiator and not the block/heater I figure I get about 2/3rds of the stuff renewed then and so the percentage of old stuff in there is relatively small and it is mostly fresh stuff by doing it that often. I realize this is somewhat the lazy way out but my cooling systems always stay in perfect shape with this routine so it is what I have adopted.