ok..you can laugh at me..i'm no car genius but i have two mercedes that i love...i have a simple question i can't find in the old owner's manual...my wife has a great running 1989 300se w126....by the battery, there are two plastic bottles....one is fat and one is thinner and round, like a thermos...the big one is obviously the window washer fluid bottle ..what is the smaller thermos shaped bottle next to it..?..it has two small hoses running into the top.,.what is this bottle for..?..thanks..

Probably either the coolant overflow/surge tank or the auxiliary canteen. You don't have the factory "desert survival" option, do you?

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

Without seeing it I would guess that it is the cooling system reservoir. Do any of the hoses run to the radiator?

both hoses are small..they both come out of the top of the bottle...i can see that one runs into the engine firewall...i can't see where the other one runs but i assume the same direction..

I believe you are reffering to the washer bottle, the lines are part of the auxiliary heating element which ties into the cooling system.