Bit of green coolant remaining after change to g05... - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

97 SL320 · #16 07-04-2014, 07:26 PM

It never ceases to amaze me that MB is supposed to be such a well built car but is considered to be fragile / finicky by some.

For general automotive use, green antifreeze works just fine however it needs changed every 2 years.

Other types of antifreeze may offer longer change intervals but I have not seen any evidence that "better" antifreeze is any "better" than green changed at 2 year intervals.

As for Dex cool ( orange ) , it works fine for cooling systems that exclude air ( RE header tank is completely filled and no air is in the system.) Dex cool will sludge up _IF_ there is air in the system, this isn't a function of defective coolant, it is a function of poor maintenance. ( Dex is fine in a overflow tank that isn't heated )

In regular coolant systems, sludge falls to the bottom. In a Dex cool system sludge floats to the top. The less informed scream and want to sue GM, too bad they don't sue every other manufacturer for sludge at the bottom of a green system, . . .you know, the sludge they can't see.

I've had engines apart that ran Dex cool that had sludge at the rad cap, but were sparkling clean once the block freeze plugs were removed. As in silvery shiny cast iron at 125 K miles and 12 years.

I'd also take into consideration qualifications of those that tout one antifreeze over another.

cooljjay · #17 07-04-2014, 07:39 PM

It has been said alot about green is just fine if you change it every two years, like you said...where the argument is now, is that zerex G05 is just as cheap as the green stuff, so why not put the correct stuff in it and if you go over the 2 year change, it won't start eating away at anything.

Both my cars had green in them, up until a year ago, when I found zerek was so cheap....the 78 sat for many many many years with green in it....same as the euro guy...

Another reason I use the correct stuff and I suggest others do as well, is that both my radiators are new, non turbo radiators are long gone and the remainder cost over 600$....So I want my radiators to last the rest of my life, so I make sure to use zerek G05.

efm-7 · #18 07-04-2014, 07:53 PM

I had a hell of a time trying to find G05, I bought two concentrated bottles of it, ended up only using one.

Luckily both my vehicles use the same coolant

Tmadia · #19 07-04-2014, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97 SL320

It never ceases to amaze me that MB is supposed to be such a well built car but is considered to be fragile / finicky by some.

For general automotive use, green antifreeze works just fine however it needs changed every 2 years.

Other types of antifreeze may offer longer change intervals but I have not seen any evidence that "better" antifreeze is any "better" than green changed at 2 year intervals.

As for Dex cool ( orange ) , it works fine for cooling systems that exclude air ( RE header tank is completely filled and no air is in the system.) Dex cool will sludge up _IF_ there is air in the system, this isn't a function of defective coolant, it is a function of poor maintenance. ( Dex is fine in a overflow tank that isn't heated )

In regular coolant systems, sludge falls to the bottom. In a Dex cool system sludge floats to the top. The less informed scream and want to sue GM, too bad they don't sue every other manufacturer for sludge at the bottom of a green system, . . .you know, the sludge they can't see.

I've had engines apart that ran Dex cool that had sludge at the rad cap, but were sparkling clean once the block freeze plugs were removed. As in silvery shiny cast iron at 125 K miles and 12 years.

I'd also take into consideration qualifications of those that tout one antifreeze over another.

+1

JHZR2 · #20 07-04-2014, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by efm-7

I had a hell of a time trying to find G05, I bought two concentrated bottles of it, ended up only using one.

Luckily both my vehicles use the same coolant

G05 is readily available as Zerex, Pentosin, and OEM from a variety of vendors. You can even get it on Amazon for $19.53 shipped.

Pelican sells MB coolant too.

JHZR2 · #21 07-04-2014, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97 SL320

It never ceases to amaze me that MB is supposed to be such a well built car but is considered to be fragile / finicky by some.

For general automotive use, green antifreeze works just fine however it needs changed every 2 years.

Other types of antifreeze may offer longer change intervals but I have not seen any evidence that "better" antifreeze is any "better" than green changed at 2 year intervals.

As for Dex cool ( orange ) , it works fine for cooling systems that exclude air ( RE header tank is completely filled and no air is in the system.) Dex cool will sludge up _IF_ there is air in the system, this isn't a function of defective coolant, it is a function of poor maintenance. ( Dex is fine in a overflow tank that isn't heated )

In regular coolant systems, sludge falls to the bottom. In a Dex cool system sludge floats to the top. The less informed scream and want to sue GM, too bad they don't sue every other manufacturer for sludge at the bottom of a green system, . . .you know, the sludge they can't see.

I've had engines apart that ran Dex cool that had sludge at the rad cap, but were sparkling clean once the block freeze plugs were removed. As in silvery shiny cast iron at 125 K miles and 12 years.

I'd also take into consideration qualifications of those that tout one antifreeze over another.

In these older engines, they may or may not be sensitive to one kind of chemistry or another. It is the blending of chemistries, that can and has caused issues in various makes/models.

G05 is good stuff and readily available to the point that I see zero reason to run old tech green coolant. Particularly when "green" in its traditional sense is now either a reduced silicate version of what it used to be, or a dyed dex cool clone, or other things.

And its fairly well known that some systems in some cars can be quite sensitive. Not saying that these would be... But if the car was specified effectively with G05 from the factory, and it is still available in a well known, well respected form, which is about the most benign chemistry out there, why wouldn't you run it?

DeliveryValve · #22 07-05-2014, 02:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooljjay

I live in the middle of no where, ground water, lakes, streams etc don't exists around here....we have a river a few miles away and about 500ft down a canyon....

Its no more irresponsible, then the thousands of house boats we have on the water here, leaking oil, fuel, sewage into the lake.....my little bit of coolant that comes out with the house water isn't going to effect anything...

Now if you live in an urban city, don't do this and allow it to run down the gutters of the street....that may cause harm...

Not arguing here, but you should go out and look at what we do to the earth, I can snap a few photos of the washes here, where the rock is permanently stained black by all the crap that washes off the roads and down into the river..

We can say how "irresponsible" it is for me to do something...but man there is muchhhhh worse things out there killing the environment.....we also have a huge coal burning power plant here...

Really? Your justifying your wrong with the other wrongs out there? Since you brought it up, that is one reason the earth is what it is, from that way of thinking.

cooljjay · #23 07-05-2014, 02:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeliveryValve

Really? Your justifying your wrong with the other wrongs out there? Since you brought it up, that is one reason the earth is what it is, from that way of thinking.

And your judging me and the way I think of the earth because I used a garden house to flush the coolant from my car, after I drained the said coolant into one gallon containers?

You don't even want to start the battle with me on how I treat the earth, everything I own, everything I wear is from america's waste...aka I dig it out of big box dumpsters, I recycle ever bit of trash I get, I don't waste money buying the latest technologies, I don't fit into the trends of today, I would be just as happy living in a small cabin int he woods with no help from the human world, living off the land, making my own clothing out of the wool from my sheep.

The earth is a filter medium, what ever goes into it.....gets filtered, transformed back into CO2...

My point is, the world is already Fuked, do for a big natural disaster.....my little bit of contamination isn't going to be the last straw....

Just because your in the new age of grease car thinking, does not me you are thinking on behalf of the earth...

America's greed of wanting to be bigger and better then the other guy, is going to cause its own damnation...

I will never understand, how so many people can judge other people from so little words exchanged over a forum and never meeting person face to face, before they judge. We need to get the hell off our electronic gizmos and socialize with people!

Now didn't I say I didn't want to argue...

DeliveryValve · #24 07-05-2014, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooljjay

...

My point is, the world is already Fuked, do for a big natural disaster.....my little bit of contamination isn't going to be the last straw....

.....

Again, that way of thinking is what is causing this, as you put it, fuked world. Think of it, a billion people thinking like you doing the same thing. Now what happens if a billion people who don't think the same and act more responsibly.

Yes I am judging you because it is irresponsible to promote on the internet so that thousands or millions can see, that using a garden hose and letting the coolant drain into the ground is the best way to make your engine free of green coolant. There is no justification of that practice.

cooljjay · #25 07-05-2014, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeliveryValve

Again, that way of thinking is what is causing this, as you put it, fuked world. Think of it, a billion people thinking like you doing the same thing. Now what happens if a billion people who don't think the same and act more responsibly.

Yes I am judging you because it is irresponsible to promote on the internet so that thousands or millions can see, that using a garden hose and letting the coolant drain into the ground is the best way to make your engine free of green coolant. There is no justification of that practice.

HERE YOU GO.... Ethylene Glycol is "EPA also found that ethylene glycol biodegrades readily in the air in water and in soil"

http://www.huntsman.com/performance_products/Media%20Library/a_MC348531CFA3EA9A2E040EBCD2B6B7B06/Products_MC348531D0B9FA9A2E040EBCD2B6B7B06/Glycols_MC348531D11A3A9A2E040EBCD2B6B7B06/files/fate_and_effects.pdf

"Ethylene glycol is used as antifreeze in cooling and heating systems"

97 SL320 · #26 07-05-2014, 08:13 AM

I'm not against using G05 when it is available. I am against panic that running green will make the car explode leaving the owner looking like a cartoon explosion.

I've not come across any definitive data as to why certain cars require a specific antifreeze beyond the manufacturer says so. Aluminum is still aluminum, . . iron, rubber hoses have improved over the years. Plastic has been introduced for water pump impellers / intake manifolds I don't see green causing a problem here.

For the record I use Dex in the 99 Blazer I put together for Mom and Dad, green in everything else. ( 10 or so antifreeze users ranging from cars to tractors. )

tjts1 · #27 07-05-2014, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottmcphee

When asked the seller about use of green... he mentioned the cooling system parts that had to be replaced... when I told him green was wrong for the car... he was personally offended because "he was a heavy duty diesel mechanic" and thought I should shut up. I did. And just walked away.

He was correct. There's nothing in the Mercedes metallurgy, gaskets or hoses that makes it incompatible with common green coolant that works in every other car on the road. This is just another myth MB forums love to perpetuate because they heard it from a dealer.

That said I would have done the same thing and walked away because the seller was rude.

tangofox007 · #28 07-05-2014, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97 SL320

For the record I use Dex in the 99 Blazer I put together for Mom and Dad...

The Blazer, along with her brother Jimmy, could easily qualify as the poster children for the "benefits" of Dexcool. The Dexcool-soluable intake manifold gasket was particularly noteworthy, as it was a major contributor to "air in the system."

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97 SL320

Dex cool will sludge up _IF_ there is air in the system, this isn't a function of defective coolant, it is a function of poor maintenance.

Yes, those engine components that are dissolved by Dexcool need to be replaced periodically!!!

That sounds more like a design problem to me.

DeliveryValve · #29 07-05-2014, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooljjay

You know what, you are a ******** and I so want to drive over there and tell it to you in your face!

HERE YOU GO.... Ethylene Glycol is "EPA also found that ethylene glycol biodegrades readily in the air in water and in soil"

"Ethylene glycol is used as antifreeze in cooling and heating systems"

Despite the fact you are personally attacking me with name calling and want threaten me face to face,

The link you provided has no relevance in this matter. Yes, Ethylene Glycol is biodegradable and using it to deice airplanes is important. But we are talking about properly disposing USED coolant/antifreeze.
If you spend your time to do the research of why you shouldn't instead of why you can dump it in the environment, you'll find that used automotive coolant can have traces of toxins. In addition to oil, antifreeze can have toxic heavy metals i.e. arsenic, lead, chromium, mercury, etc, and toxic volatile organic compounds.

mach4 · #30 07-05-2014, 09:45 AM

Based on the above "discussion", I think we can safely add anti-freeze to the list of topics where closely held beliefs prevail and where there is woefully little factual data available - topics like K&N filters, motor oil and additives.

Kind of fun to watch from the sidelines.

The only thing I would add to the discussion at this point would be to be careful of using the EPA as a "fact" source - these are the same guys that have determined that the gas r134 when contained in an air conditioning system is dangerous and must be "recovered" yet when contained in a spray can is acceptable as an aerosol for cleaning computers and key boards. Now if someone can explain to me what causes the same gas to become inert in one container and dangerous in another, I'm all ears.