I know it's not the recommended practice....that it's ideal to drain and flush the block and the heater core....but if ALL I were to do was drain the radiator, how much coolant would come out? Car is a 1992 300D, total system capacity is about 10 quarts.

Must admit I am tempted by the simpler procedure....especially being fairly confident that I have a clean system.

Thanks.

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 159k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 179k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 77k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I found that I had to replace about 3/4 gallon from the radiator alone - however when you take out the radiator, your expansion tank is going to drain along with the forward parts of the engine block. I'd get at least a gallon of antifreeze and a gallon of water for it.

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Well if you are talking about changing your coolant, you are getting it about half done, especially if you are using the drain plug under your radiator. If you want to do a job that only needs the radiator removed, that is all you need to do. If you want the other half out, remove the radiator or at least remove all hoses from the radiator and then force some air from an air hose into the upper most opening. Bandage the air hose up with some old rags and give it a toot or two and you can get most of it out. Makr sure you have a large catch can because it will come out as fast as you shoot the air in.

__________________
Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

Several months ago, a number of folks chimed in on a thread to show me how to change my coolant the proper way: draining and flushing the block, flushing the heater core, etc... As appreciative as I was and am for all the advice, I must confess I'm still a bit apprehensive about some of the steps....for example, some have mentioned they've had difficulty with the block drain. So...again since I'm pretty confident the system has been well maintained....I'm tempted simply to disconnect the upper radiator hose, drain the radiator and the expansion tank with a Mityvac (and even the top part of the block), and add new coolant. I know that may sound a bit "unorthodox," but if the system is clean to start with (newish radiator, etc.), I'm not sure I see a significant downside.

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 159k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 179k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 77k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Opening the radiator drain plug just isn't that difficult.

Haven't located mine yet. I have a Behr. Do I necessarily have a drain plug? I know some Behrs don't. If I have one, should it be accessible without removing the covering underneath?

I guess I can also just disconnect lower radiator hose...

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 159k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 179k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 77k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Maybe you don't.
Also looks like you have a horizontal flow radiator, so the mityvac might work just fine.

If you do have a drain plug, it might look like this:
http://catalog.peachparts.com/ShopByVehicle.epc?q=1992-Mercedes--Benz-300d-Cooling--System&yearid=1992%40%401992&makeid=63%40%40MERCEDES+BENZ%40%40X&modelid=6180%3AED%7C10000095%3AMBC%7C1501%40%40300D&catid=240909%40%40Cooling+System&subcatid=240925@@Radiator+Drain+Plug&mode=PD

Check where the lower hose attaches to the radiator.

Sixto
87 300D

Drained it today....a full six quarts came out.

__________________
14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 159k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 179k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 77k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife