Be sure to flush the coolant in your Mercedes...If you don't the coolant will acidify and cause costly problems such as premature head gasket failre and water ump failure. Take it from a Tech I have seen many neglected!!

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Benzmac:
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
LEAD TECHNICIAN FOR 14 BAY FACILITY
MERCEDES SPECIALIST 8 YRS
PARTNER IN MERCEDESSHOP.COM

IF I remember correctly, the coolant flush is NOT part of the normal maintenance procedures. (7,500, 15K, 30K) Another reason why it is easy to miss and costs you big down the road. You would want to use MB coolant in a 50/50 mix when you do flush.

Lee

Suggestions on how often to change coolant ?

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Bruce R. 98 SLK
MBCA
Greater Washington Section

An easy way to remember it would be to always change the coolant when you do the 30K services or approx every 2 years.


Lee

Is there a difference between the Mercedes coolant and other brands?

Yes, Mercedes adds some special additives and sealants to their coolant. It will usually leave a white streak when seeping from somewhere. Also Mercedes coolant is specialy designed for the aluminum heads and blocks of a Mercedes. The usable life is about 3 years in reality, but some claim 5.

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Benzmac:
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
LEAD TECHNICIAN FOR 14 BAY FACILITY
MERCEDES SPECIALIST 8 YRS
PARTNER IN MERCEDESSHOP.COM

The official mercedes-benz coolant replacement interval is every three years.
Beyond that poimt the additives in the coolant have begun to lose too much of their effectiveness.
The actual antifreeze does not wear out.
The 50/50 mix is good to -20°F.

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Mercedes has a special flushing agent called citric acid powder. After draining the coolant, a mixture of this powder & water should be allowed to run through the engine for 10 min. redrain system & add 50/50 mix of fresh anitfreeze.

Now is the time to flush cooling systems!!!

Is the MB coolant preferable for aluminum heads in general???

By the way, we have the OE MB anti-freeze in PartsShop. The part number is ANTI-FREEZE and the price is $8.50 /gallon.

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Bill Wood - Webmaster
MercedesShop.com, LLC

Mercedes has changed their A.F. now it has a red color.

Any time after 2-3 years is a good time to flush cooling system.

How do you guys feel about a professionally-applied reverse-flow flush ?? Also, any recommendations regarding additional additives to the coolant, such as Red Line's "Water Wetter?" Thanks.

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Fred Prickett
85 500 SEL, 241,500 mi
90 5.0 Mustang LX conv.

Hi Fred,
A search on RL Water Wetter will give tons of results - I recall that most of the techs that frequent this site (who are pretty conservative when it comes to additives) said they have no problem with WW. There are plenty of testimonials from mshop members, too.