Here is the one I have:

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1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz

Yep same as mine, I think their is only one. When I purchased my coolent from the dealer I just asked for coolant, they didn't ask which type.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

So who has used the Blue color original Mercees antifreeze? Anybody?

What about this:

http://www.evanscooling.com/catalog/C_npg1.htm

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1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz

Glad to hear that a few have been using WaterWetter with distilled water. Aside from lowering the notoriously high temps of the M119, it sure has left my radiator sparkling clean!

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Dean Albrecht
"Lead, follow, or better yet, get out of the way!"E500 owners motto

Going back to the post about Pentosin, they make a pink "G12" coolant for VW/Audi that's supposed to be incompatible with other coolants. VW makes a big deal of making sure you don't mix anything else with it. If you get the Pentosin, don't get the pink stuff!

I ran Prestone extended life (Dexcool type, bright orange) for a couple years in my ML with no adverse effects. However at the next coolant change I used Zerex G-05 (pretty much clear in color) because it meets the factory specs. I don't think it was $9 per gallon.

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Lenny

There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games. --Ernest Hemingway

'10 GL550/'04 BMW 545/'99 BMW 323/'98 ML320/'87 VW GTI (race)

Evans Coolant is a non-aqueous propylene glycol blend coolant with a boiling point of 375 deg. F. That means it runs at essentially 0 psi, putting less stress on all parts of your cooling system, from radiator to hoses to pump to heater core.

I put Evans NPG+ in my 86 300E in July of '03 when I replaced the radiator and water pump at about 96,000 miles and then loaded up all four of us (2 adults, 2 large teens), our luggage and a 10' popup trailer and headed up to Anacortes, WA from So. Cal. The first thing we hit was the Grapevine at about 1 pm and over 100 deg. temps outside. The car never even thought about getting seriously overheated. As I recall, the temp guage hit 110 once on one of the steeper, longer inclines but it came right back down as soon as it leveled off a bit. I'm very impressed with the stuff.

We put on over 2500 mi. during the trip, lots of it through tight mountain roads in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear and I've rolled up over 50k miles since then. I haven't had to add on ounce since I put it in, and I don't even worry about overheating in traffic at all.

The only hassle is getting all of the remaining coolant/water out of your system, but it's really not that bad. I'll describe what I did, if you're interested.

The coolant is about the same viscosity as MB coolant, so no changes are required to any part of your stock cooling system. The price is a little steep at about $25/gal., but considering that they claim you can leave it in there for 300-500k miles, I think that it's quite cost effective. I would highly recommend it based on my own first-hand experience.

Thanks for the reply Phacon51. It's nice to get an opinion based on first hand experience. I was just speaking with Evans Cooling today. Their products do look good. The tech was unavailable today and so I'll call on Monday for more detailed info. I can't believe I never heard of it before. I guess the problem in Canada is that it costs $60/gallon Canadian funds after shipping and exchange.

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1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz

Brake fluid is propylene glycol; does this stuff eat paint the way brake fluid does?

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Lenny

There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games. --Ernest Hemingway

'10 GL550/'04 BMW 545/'99 BMW 323/'98 ML320/'87 VW GTI (race)

Actually, brake fluid is ethylene glycol. Propylene glycol is often used as a food additive.

Here's a blurb from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry:

"Both compounds are used to make antifreeze and de-icing solutions for cars, airplanes, and boats; to make polyester compounds; and as solvents in the paint and plastics industries. Ethylene glycol is also an ingredient in photographic developing solutions, hydraulic brake fluids and in inks used in stamp pads, ballpoint pens, and print shops.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified propylene glycol as an additive that is "generally recognized as safe" for use in food. It is used to absorb extra water and maintain moisture in certain medicines, cosmetics, or food products. It is a solvent for food colors and flavors."

NPG+, according to the package labeling, contains ethylene and propylene glycol, proprietary antitoxin and corrosion inhibitors. There's no warning anywhere on the label about damaging paint.

I've never spilled it on my paint myself, so I'm afraid I can't really answer your question. But then again, in the last 38 years of doing almost all my own maintenance I've never spilled brake fluid or regular coolant on any of my car's paint jobs either. Just be careful.

The blue stuff is the factory fill. When the interval arrives for changing the coolant in the new MBs, you need to completely drain and flush the cooling system to remove the blue stuff as it is of a different formulation than the orange/tan MBUSA coolant. Blue coolant is generally found on '02 and newer models if I remember correctly from the very few newer MBs we service.

The Pentosin antifreeze is formulated for VW/Audi (the pink stuff). As long as you thoroughly flush the system of any old coolant, it is ok to use the Pentosin. I did a complete flush and backflush of the cooling system on my '67 MGB and refilled with Pentosin "pink".

If you do not flush all of the coolant out, it will mix with the pink Pentosin and will leave a black-ish sludge in the cooling system.

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Regards,
Aaron

As mentioned, I still have the green anti-freeze in my car (at least it appears to be the typical green). If I were to drain the radiator, about how many gallons of the Zerox or MB will it take to refill? I know some water will have to be mixed in. Should that be distilled water only? We have a water purification built into our water system in the house, so would this water be safe for it?

Thanks

The owners manual will tell you the capacity of the cooling system. It's probably about 11 quarts. You want a 50/50 mix. Mercedes says that any good drinking water that isn't too hard is okay to use, but you're always safe using a dollar's worth of distilled.

Len

I looked for some "Zerex" this evening in a local department store. No Zerox, but they did have something new from Prestone. It was yellow and said that it was safe for ALL cars, ALL years, ALL makes, ALL models, etc. It also said it could be mixed with any other coolant.

Would this be safe to use, or should we still stick with the Zerox or MB coolants?

BTW - it is actually "zerOx", or "zerEx"? I have seen it spelled both ways, but never paid any attention to it on the package. I am thinking "zerex".....

Try NAPA.

Len

It's Zerex:

http://www.valvoline.com/pages/products/product_detail.asp?product=10