Mechanic put in green coolant???
 

I just had my radiator replaced, before summer. I just noticed today that my mechanic at Austin Auto Haas but in green coolant. It's the weekend, so I haven't called. But I had MB coolant in before. That stuff isn't cheap. I should have told him I wanted the MB, but I just thought he would use it.

So is it okay to have the green stuff in, i was under the understanding that this would damage my car.

It won't damage it. The MB coolant is just what supposed to be used.

I've been running the green stuff since 05 in the 300D, and it had it when I bought it. The 240D that I bought in 06 is the same. So far, so good. I'll be replacing some coolant hoses in the 300D when Brown brings them to my house, and filling the coolant with some Zerex G05. The branded Merc coolant isn't much more expensive, but I would have to drive to Reno to get it.

The only engine I've heard of that has bona fide coolant issues is the 7.3 IDI International, due to the thin cylinder walls.

I think it matters if you have the aluminum head or block.

Tom W

Personally, I would run the correct coolant. It's cheap and easy to replace the green junk with the MB coolant.

OM61X engines have the iron head AND block.
OM60X engines have the iron block and aluminum head.

After recently experiencing firsthand the effects of coolant neglect on my 71 250C (Fe block, Al head), I'd be reticent to use anything other than MB coolant in a OM60X. Thanks a bunch PO.....

I make it a point to use MB coolant in all my Fe/Al car's engines, and for good measure, I use it in the 83 300D as well.

Much cheaper than having to have the head rebuilt because of missing material due to galvanic corrosion.....

If you are anal about frequent coolant flushes, you *might* get away with green coolant, but the cost factor advantage goes away with frquency, so might as well use the right stuff......

Jim

Jim is right, you should be using the approved coolant for your engine. Think about it this way, would you decide that it was alright to use some other spec. transmission fluid - other than what is called for? The MB stuff - or the cheaper Zerex G-05, which is the same stuff - is specially designed for to protect a variety of metals. It is low silicate, low pH and phosphate free. So, I don't know what is called for in your model, but mine specifies this type due to the Fe block and Al head and that's all I will put in it. Oh, and be sure to dilute 50/50 with water - running straight coolant dosen't help you unless you live close to the arctic circle and its not really that great for your engine either.

According to my information, straight coolant is never a good thing. The anticorrosion chemicals apparently need at least a 30% mix of water in order to function as they should.

I also think running the correct MB coolant is good for the plastic tanks on the radiator. Keeps it from deteriorating in the long run.

You are right, but he was just saying that 100% coolant will only cool better than a 50/50 mix in deep sub-zero temperatures.

I have been running green coolant in my wagon for a couple years how with no ill affects. I don't honestly think it makes any difference, as along as it was quality coolant.

Coolant type and water makes a different.




http://mastertechtrans.com/post/AntiFreeDec04.pdf

G-05 is like $3/gal more than the cheeepest green stuff. why not use the G-o5/? cost is really nothing over a 2-3 year change cycle. I switched all our cars to zerex- I dont have to keep 2 different products in stock.

but in your case- prolly hasn't hurt anything yet, but I would change it out by next fall.

If yours has the alum head, then I'd go back to the MB stuff. But in my stable of 82-25, 617's, I've run nearly a half million miles since April of '01 on the green stuff. 50/50.

diesel don

Green or orange, it doesnt matter until you start running alluminum heads/blocks. Ive been running green crap in my car for over three years now, no issues, no pocketing or anything of the sort. (And i have the torn down engine to prove it.)

You know that there have been no ill effects because...

What would be an example of poor quality coolant?

One that looks like mud?:eek::D

That, I believe, woud be a description of condition, not quality.

At one time radiators did not develop a pronounced buildup in their cores. I have always been a little suspicious of the green antifreeze as the cause. In earlier times you ran water in the summer and winterized every fall with new antifreeeze. The radiators appeared to stay like new internally in comparison to later rads.
The concept of leaving anti freeze in year long eventually occured. That white buildup that also occured around the enterance to each tube might either be some component in the green antifreeze or a breakdown of that component.
For all I know whatever the agent was it may no longer be in the green antifreeze. This effect I observed on engines with even cast iron heads. My guess it was a byproduct of never changing the original anti freeze until the system broke a hose or something.
The coolant also must have swung to an acedic level eventually as well. I assume I should have a package of ph slips in my toolbox for occasional checking when owning so many cars. A baseline can be gathered simply by checking your latest fill. Probably does apply to any color of anti freeze.
Ph strips are probably a dime a dozen so to speak. I certainly am not a coolant expert. Come to think of it I have always wondered if a car in storage for a very long time should have the anti freeze drained or not.

Depends on what type of green stuff he used. Ethylene Glycol has seemed to distribute issues for some on this board and it's because the Ethylene Glycol base is not to friendly to plastic. We use Polypropylene Glycol in the trucking industry because we use the same type of radiators that Benz uses. That is the difference between genuine MB and aftermarket "green stuff".:D

My theory (proven only by my own experience, 100,000's of thousands of miles in Fe+AL engines) is that the OEM stuff is of higher initial quality than off the shelf Green.

But...if you follow GOOD mtc practices and drain and flush 1x per year Green is fine.

The horror stories you hear are due mainly to

- severe neglect (10 yrs with no coolant flush)
- mixing several types in at once

My opinion anyways. I just hate going to the dealer, buying expensive coolant, then finding a problem which requires dumping the coolant and repeating the whole process.

I guess at +$3/gal, the Zerex seems the best overall choice if you want to go a few yrs between coolant changes.

Very good points! I should mention too that Sierra Brand Poly Coolant is what I have been using because this is what we use at the truck stop, but it comes in many brands.:D

I would think the quality of that kind of coolant couldn't be too good either.;)

Just to throw these particular dogs into the fight, mine came to us full of green stuff. Waited until the first explosion and then replaced it with peak global lifetime, which we've been using ever since.

If I'm setting myself up to be a Benz statistic... then I can afford to replace a radiator in the name of science, I suppose. It seems to be decent antifreeze. Haven't had any problems.

There is a lot more to anti-freeze than color, or pH, nitrates and molybdates are important, OAT is a no-no in M-B land (such as the Peak Global Lifetime et al):
https://mbwholesaleparts.com/StarTuned/pdfs/AntiFreeDec04.pdf

It takes time and equipment to detect accelerated aging/problems in most cases, you don't know what damage you might be doing.

Prevention is almost always cheaper than repairs.

What kind of damage am I doing and how will I first detect it?

EDIT: Adding a link to this page.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/tech-help/12636-coolant-red-vs-green-post1085656.html
Post #68.

Read the Star link, note the discussion about OAT (which the Peak Global is) coolants.

I don't remember the Peak Global being a diesel coolant either. I do run it in a couple of my gasoline vehicles Sam's Club used to carry it here with a good case-price.

Here is an idea. Drain the coolant into a clean container. Reinstall it when the repairs are complete. Environmentally friendly and cost effective.

Diesel coolant different from gasoline coolant :confused:

There is a difference between Peak and Peak Global!:eek: Peak is Polypropylene Glycol and Peak Global is Ethylene Glycol.;) Poly is more expensive to make.:( But it is more friendly to the environment and friendly to plastic tanks, which is why we use it in Freightliners and Kenworth's!:D Peterbuilt's must use Cat/093.

Some coolants rated for use in diesel engines have a supplemental additive that reduces cavitation around the cylinder liners.

Thanks for all the info. I've noticed that my temp is getting up to 191 degrees with the outside temp here in Austin getting to 90 degrees. I normally got around 180, with the MB coolant.

I'm moving back to the MB coolant.

I've often wondered whether I need to test and add the FX16 to the cars cooling system like I have to in the truck. Anybody know?

My car has green ethylene glycol in it now and it came that way from the PO. I'll be switching to Evans coolant in the near future when I do some overhauling on the engine.

Our 300D has green in it...and my dad's did but I drained that out and put MB in it. We haven't touched the cooling system on the 300D, it runs at a perfect temp....we might flush it this summer...but the MB stuff is ultra expensive. Perhaps we'll use the Zerex G-05.

Mine has always had MB coolant. Did when I bought it, and I have used it the two times I've replaced it.

My sdl had 75K miles of green coolant in it by PO. I switched to zerex go5. Noticed no change. over 100K since change over.

I think the main issue with the green coolant is that it does not protect the aluminum parts of the cooling system, which includes the water pump impeller, the water pump housing.....thermostat housing....etc... and on the 60x series of engines, the head, which is very important to protect from pitting etc...

On the 61x engines it could cause pitting on the cooling accessories but probably won't hurt the engine itself.

Either way, its MB coolant or Zerex for me.

Essentially nitrates and molybdates.

Cavitation pitting occurs in diesel engines because of the vibration/shock. The vibration/shock causes bubbles to form, and then collapse. Collapsiing a sphere can take/create thousands of psi or localized pressure, which chips away at cylinder lining. On larger (wet-sleeve) diesels it is required to check SCAs (Supplemental Coolant Additives) regularly, every 6months on mine.

Detroit Diesel has some good info on their site, likely others do also. This SCA is now in the M-B coolant recovery tanks, I don't believe that they started installing SCA filter type coolant recovery tanks until the '90s though.

accidental mixing of coolant bad??
 

it happened to me too that my car had green coolant in it from the mechanic. the other day we needed to drain the coolant to work on the tubes, so we drained the green coolant through the radiator plug. when refilling, first we ran some water through to flush it a little, then refilled with a 50/50 zerex G05 and distilled water mix. but we did not drain the engine block ..oops..,

and now im concerned that the new zerex G05 may not be compatible with the green coolant remaining in there. (not sure how much would be left in there due to not draining the engine block??)

..i really dont want to have to drain it all out again! but i really REALLY dont want to have any adverse effects to my car due to the mixed coolants! i have been searching online and on forums, but can't seem to find a straight answer.. any advice? any links to information on this? thanks!

p.s. my car is an 84 300D

The coolant is compatible, half G05 is better than no G05.

One of the claims of G-05 is that it does prevent cavitation in Diesels without having to monitor or add SCA's on a periodic basis. Which is why Ford has moved to it in their Diesels too recently. It would be an advantage then to use it just to not have to do that monitoring. I suspect it does wear out though hence the change interval of 5 years but I also suspect other things are wearing out too in that coolant.

For those who have Orchard Suppy Hardware in their area I just found they carry G-05 on the shelf.

Replace it
 

Replace it with Zerex G-05 (same as MB coolant). The green stuff will cause corrosion over time.

There's a sticker on the radiator demanding the use of aluminum-friendly anti-freeze, but I've seen a couple of anti-freezes that swear they are safe to use on any engine type, so I think some of today's anti-freezes are okay to use with aluminum. I just don't believe it strongly enough to use the green stuff myself.