Antifreeze
 

I have a 1985 300 SD. How can I tell what type antifreeze I have in the car? It appears to be orange and I think it could be Mercedes antifreeze, but I do not know. Thanks
Jack

Is it orange or amber?

The Mercedes antifreeze is lightly colored amber, almost clear.

Orange antifreeze, that is opaque enough that you can't see through it, is something strange used by GM I believe.

Unless your system is a bit overfull and your overflow tank fills right up, it's hard to tell exactly from that.

You really need to open the radiator drain and drain a bit out into a container and look. The drain is on the driver's side bottom of the rad... the plug has an X-pattern head so you will need a wide flat screwdriver to open it.

If you don't know how long its been in there, you could do worse than do a drain, flush and refill in any case. You can either use Mercedes AF or Zerex G-05.

Answer
 

MB used the standard GREEN coolant through at least 1985.

Is Antifreeze, like Aspirin, "Hype"?
Is Antifreeze, like Aspirin, "Hype"? - PeachParts Mercedes ShopForum

Coolant RED vs. GREEN
Coolant RED vs. GREEN - Page 5 - PeachParts Mercedes ShopForum



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I shudder to think that the antifreeze would be original.

My buddy's ML320 has orange coolant. His vehicle is dealer maintained with a new engine at 50K. I bet the orange coolant is dealer coolant. But I can't be sure because the information is second hand.

FYI
 

Zerex DEx-COOL Antifreeze is Orange.

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You can't always tell by color.

http://www.eetcorp.com/antifreeze/Coolants_matrix.pdf