another coolant flush issue
 

:) did my 190e today. my car had the "green stuff" in it. drained radiator,attached backflush connection to hose from firewall to engine that goes over oil filter, removed thermostat, re-installed housing, removed cap on tank, attached a hose to where the cap was,turned on water and started engine.. i let it run for about 15 minutes after the water was clear. i refilled with zerex g02.( poured in thermostat housing first, then replaced thermostat.put everything back and was surprised to find that now, when the ac comes on, both fans start at about 85 degrees c. before, no fans came on until about 95 degrees c( i have installed 1100ohm res per prior thread). the only problem so far is that even tho it says color has been added on the label the zerez 02 looks like water and you cannot tell what the level is. time will tell!

are you referring to the Zerex G-05? That's the only one that I know (besides mercedes coolant) that is approved for benz's and yes it is very light in color. I can barely see it in my expansion tank. Good stuff though at a reduced cost as compared to the mercedes coolant.

It's possible the original mixture was too concentrated - too high of a coolant-to-water ratio.

Coolant does not dissipate heat well.

The color of coolant has nothing to do with heat dissipation.

that makes sense mike. i never thought of the heat dissipation issue. the old coolant didn't look all that bad so i was surprised by the result. charlie

Just how much money does one save using Zerex over Mercedes?

The Zerex is $7.99 at AutoZone. Not a huge savings but why pay more for the exact same thing in the mercedes container?

I had a dealer charge me 19.95 a gallon. I needed it to complete a flush and fill. Zerex will be used in the future just to not have to deal with these types of dealers. The savings is just an added benefit.

The MB antifreeze is $10.50 at a MB dealer near Balto. area.

I've been buying MB antifreeze from dealers for a long, long time. It's gone up over time but the last time I bought it a few months ago, it was $10.50.

I have no doubt that Zerox is as good as Mercedes but since I have to get MB parts anyway, I see no reason to go out of my way to get another brand to save $2.50.

Every last thing that's ever been poured into or bolted onto my car has had an MB part number on it except for the Mobil 1 fluids in the drive train.

Dale,
Just curious -- what is the source of this info that the Zerex product is officially approved by MB?

go to valvolines home page then go to Zerex. Look on the Material Data Sheets on the G-05 product. I still wasn't convinced after reading "their" literature so I e-mailed them and they confirmed it's the exact same thing that is in the mercedes bottle.

Zerex G 05 antifreeze isn't "approved" per se by Mercedes Benz. We're starting to mince words here.

Here are a few quotes from the Zerex web site:

"Approved by Ford and DaimlerChrysler for use in automotive and diesel engines. "

"Zerex G 05 antifreeze coolant meets or exceeds the performance requirements of the following antifreeze specifications and/or recommended practices: ..... Mercedes Benz Approved...."

I personally believe Mercedes hasn't approved Zerex G 05 as a business practice - not for technical reasons. They are interested in selling their own aftermarket products at inflated prices. Conversely, Zerex can't say their product is approved by MB. Zerex can only state that their product meets (or exceeds) the requirements for MB antifreeze specification. I still say Zerex G 05 is okay to use in MB engines.

ah, I see gents. Didn't you write Mercedes approved? Do you suppose Valvoline is going to advertise that when it isn't? I don't think so!!

Dale,
I see what you mean on the web site. Does sound like the "official" MB product. I remember Stu Ritter writing about the factory stuff having an organic base, low silicates, etc.

His biggest concern about non-MB coolant was that it changes pH dramatically over its lifespan in our engines while the buffers in the "official" MB coolant allowed it to stay very close to neutral pH over 2-3 years, thus protecting engine and (plastic radiators). He actually measured pH of coolant in real-world engines using different coolants and found none could compare to MB coolant (he DIDN'T test the Zerex G-05 however).