Seriously, I'm really glad you checked with Valvoline to confirm what I'm saying. I like to be accurate in whatever I suggest on this forum.
However, have you read the information other members and I have contributed to this subject via the link (to the links) I provided in my earlier posting to this thread? Regardless, here's the jist for those who aren't interested in reading several old threads.
First, to answer this question,
"If Prestone is so detrimental to all automobile engines,why is it (Prestone) the leading brand of antifreeze sold in the US. The P-green stuff has been around since 1927. Surely, if the green stuff is as bad as Scott would have us believe, It would have destroyed so many engines in its 34 years on the market, that no one in their mind would want to even be near the stuff." It's not my personal crusade here, I'm just passing on what knowledge I have acquired through my research into this subject. Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger.
Also, I am not targeting a specific manufacturer when I suggest that you not use an antifreeze that contains phosphate corrosion inhibitors. Peak, Havolive, and every other manufacturer of "the P-green stuff" is included in that assessment. But they all do make antifreeze that should work as well as Mercedes antifreeze containing Glysantin. Those are the products usually marketed as "Extended Life 5/150 Antifreeze/Coolant" But those products cost as much as, if not more than, the Mercedes product, and may not work as well, so why should we buy them?
All that having been said, let's address your question differently. Why has antifreeze with phosphate, amine, nitrate and similar corrosion inhibitors been the predominant cooling system antifreeze sold in the U.S. for the
past 70 years? Marketing has a very large part to do with that, but add to it the fact that no one had, until the recent past, developed an antifreeze that addressed the problems caused by using phosphates, nitrates, amines and similar compounds as corrosion inhibitors, as well as the added use of silicates.
In fact, there are many engines and engine components that
have been destroyed over the past 70 years by using "the P-green stuff". Radiator scale, corrosion, engine block cavitation, water pump, and radiator & heater core failure can either be viewed as normal failure of parts that would need to be replaced anyway during the course of regular vehicle ownership, or they can be viewed as the "detrimental" effects of using water mixed with "the P-green stuff". It is possible that no one saw the correlation between the use of phosphates and all of these component failures. Or did they? After all, all antifreeze sold in the U.S.that use those corrosion inhibitors have been "reformulated" to supposedly be safe for use in aluminum engines. If the manufacturers didn't see a problem, why reformulate?
In Europe, where the water is very "hard" and consequently chock full of minerals, using a phosphate corrosion inhibitor in your antifreeze (especially in an aluminum block engine) is disasterous. Water "hardness", or mineral content varies greatly in the U.S., so my recommendation is to just use the antifreeze designed by Mercedes for use in your U.S. import.
The phosphates in the antifreeze, combined with the heavily mineralized water, causes a reaction whereby the minerals "drop out" of solution and attach to the passages in the cooling system. Further, they will, after sufficient time, break loose and combine with other chunks of mineral spars to eventually clog some of those passageways. In the meantime, you've got an abrasive mixture of antifreeze and water with these mineral bits swirling around under pressure in your cooling system wearing out your water pump seals, and abrading the aluminum walls of the engine and radiator. Whatever doesn't plug up, is cavitated, or eroded.
And when you add to that, the electrolytic effect caused by multi-metallic engine & cooling systems, you increase those chances for cavitation. Diesel, and especially heavy commercial engines, are prime candidates for these types of problems due to their aluminum blocks having steel sleeves inserted to form the combustion chambers. Add the aluminum pistons with steel piston rings, and it's like rubbing a balloon on your head, and touching a doorknob. Except now, metal is being degraded by the static "spark" effect in the antifreeze mixture. Any Mercedes, or heavy commercial diesel engine shop should be able to tell you about how many engines they have seen come in with serious problems of this nature.
If all of this weren't the case, there would be no need to have developed the "extended life" antifreeze that is now on the market. You will now be seeing the "phasing out" of green phosphate antifreeze throughout the industry. Saturn uses a proprietary red antifreeze, GM has a specification for antifreeze that is called "DEXCOOL" that Havolive, Peak and Prestone all make product for, Ford has a similar specification for antifreeze, and Chrysler is also developing one now that they are owned by Daimler. None of this new antifreeze has either phosphates in it, or a green color. Coincidence? I don't think so. You see, Mercedes was the innovator of this technology with BASF. Of course, how many other things can you think of that Mercedes has innovated that have been copied by just about every other vehicle manufacturer?
One of the reasons that we own Mercedes' is because of those innovations, along with the high reliability and longevity possible given proper maintenance. I did my research because of a simple statement from a tech at my local Mercedes dealer. After looking under my hood when I bought my car in October, he said, "you've got the wrong antifreeze in your cooling system", and that started me wondering whether he was right or just trying to sell me some product. After everything I have found out, I'm now quite sure he was right.
I'm glad to hear that you haven't had any problems with your cooling system over the past seven years. I hope you never do. You may be an exception to the general issue, or perhaps it's due to using distilled, or very "soft" water with your antifreeze. But you may have problems developing in your engine and cooling system right now. I don't know.
I too, have used "the P-green stuff" for more years than I want to count, and have never questioned the quality of those products. But this is a matter of proper application of the correct product, and I have now determined that any antifreeze that has phosphates in it isn't the optimum product to use in a Mercedes.
I agree with your right to choose to use whatever Antifreeze you want. I would hope that a civil disagreement about antifreeze wouldn't polarize anyone's relationship with another member on this forum.
Mercedes antifreeze is available here from FastLane for $10.89 per gallon. Just slightly more than the cost of "the P-green stuff". It's Mercedes antifreeze, Part Number Q 1 03 0002. You only need one gallon of it added to one gallon of demineralized water to refill your cooling system .
Try this: Do a flush of your cooling system at your next coolant change interval, Use the Mercedes flush, and see what, if any, crud comes out of your cooling system. Then, refill the system with The Mercedes stuff, and see if you can see any difference at your next coolant change after that. Then report back to us and let us know what your conclusions are.
