does 100c hurt the motor? - Page 4 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

pawoSD · #46 04-18-2006, 08:44 PM

Last time I drained my car completely (1.8) years ago I filled it through the upper radiator hose then filled the expansion tank. Started it, rev'd it to about 2500rpm for a couple mins, then sat and waited for the temps to come up, came up fine. Then I went out and did an italian tune up with the heat on full blast and all was well.

pawoSD · #47 04-19-2006, 07:26 PM

I swapped out my radiator today! NOT a pleasant job, I'd rate it close to doing a tranny fluid change, its so gross under there, and all that slimy coolant and tranny oil. Yuck.

Anyways, I got it in place, hooked up all the lines, filled the expansion tank up with coolant, filled up the upper hose, clamped it on, made sure everything was tight/correct, and started it up, came up to temp in about 5-6 mins right at 81C, then I took it 7 miles to our "raceway" freeway to the south of my area, and did several 105MPH uphill max load runs, temp never even went above 84C!!!!!

I was pulling up a steep hill for over a mile at around 100mph, no rise in temp! Went off the freeway, sat in traffic, no rise in temp, went back on, did the same thing again, stayed at 84C. (total of about 10-12 miles of high load freeway)

It was also the hottest its gotten yet this year today (76F) It would have been at 110C with the old radiator.....this one rocks!

So my nice new Behr radiator and new tranny lines work flawlessly! So glad I don't have to worry about that anymore!

peragro · #48 04-19-2006, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

I swapped out my radiator today! NOT a pleasant job, I'd rate it close to doing a tranny fluid change, its so gross under there, and all that slimy coolant and tranny oil. Yuck.

Anyways, I got it in place, hooked up all the lines, filled the expansion tank up with coolant, filled up the upper hose, clamped it on, made sure everything was tight/correct, and started it up, came up to temp in about 5-6 mins right at 81C, then I took it 7 miles to our "raceway" freeway to the south of my area, and did several 105MPH uphill max load runs, temp never even went above 84C!!!!!

I was pulling up a steep hill for over a mile at around 100mph, no rise in temp! Went off the freeway, sat in traffic, no rise in temp, went back on, did the same thing again, stayed at 84C. (total of about 10-12 miles of high load freeway)

It was also the hottest its gotten yet this year today (76F) It would have been at 110C with the old radiator.....this one rocks!

So my nice new Behr radiator and new tranny lines work flawlessly! So glad I don't have to worry about that anymore!

Very pleased to hear of your success. And now figuring out how to budget for a new radiator and tranny cooler....

What was the total cost again? and who did you get it from?

Diesel Giant · #49 04-19-2006, 08:11 PM

No it does not hurt the engine. Actually the hotter it runs the more efficient it is up to the a point of over heating it. But in traffic at that temp, its ok.

pawoSD · #50 04-19-2006, 08:21 PM

Thing is, my car was running 100C+ when it was only about 70F outside, around 75mph, the faster I went, the higher the temps, also in traffic it'd start rising too. Made me quite paranoid and I didn't trust a 19.5 year old radiator anymore anyways. Oh, and all these temps were without using any A/C either. I am going to try to get my A/C working again in late May, and that'd have definatley overheated it.

As for where I got it and cost, I paid $294 for the behr radiator from overnightautoparts.com, and also got a set of tranny cooling lines from them for $39, total was $333,free shipping etc...took 3 days to get everything (they ship from southern ohio) They also have a nissens radiator for $254, but I wanted to go with the better/OEM one. I have bought from them before and have always been pleased by their prices/service. However, most of the time I purchase off Mercedesshop/from Phil, so I can support the forum. In fact we'll be buying a tranny pan/filter/seal from him in the next day or two.

Brian Carlton · #51 04-19-2006, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

As for where I got it and cost, I paid $294 for the behr radiator from overnightautoparts.com, and also got a set of tranny cooling lines from them for $39, total was $333,free shipping etc...took 3 days to get everything (they ship from southern ohio) They also have a nissens radiator for $254, but I wanted to go with the better/OEM one. I have bought from them before and have always been pleased by their prices/service. However, most of the time I purchase off Mercedesshop/from Phil, so I can support the forum. In fact we'll be buying a tranny pan/filter/seal from him in the next day or two.

Do me a favor, please.

Take the old radiator and hold it up to the sun. Look between the fins and report back to the forum on what you find.

Thanks.

Hatterasguy · #52 04-19-2006, 08:49 PM

Just as I suspected the old radiators get marginal with age. I can beat on the SDL the same way all day long and the temp guage barly moves.

Now no worries about the radiator blowing up when you are 1k miles from home.

My SD with an older radiator does the same thing that your car did, if I get on it 100C in no time.

peragro if you are talking about a rad for your SDL you just have two choices. Behr or custom all aluminum. I got my Behr for $395 just before the prices spiked, I think they are in the $450-$475 range now for the SDL's.

peragro · #53 04-19-2006, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

Just as I suspected the old radiators get marginal with age. I can beat on the SDL the same way all day long and the temp guage barly moves.

Now no worries about the radiator blowing up when you are 1k miles from home.

My SD with an older radiator does the same thing that your car did, if I get on it 100C in no time.

peragro if you are talking about a rad for your SDL you just have two choices. Behr or custom all aluminum. I got my Behr for $395 just before the prices spiked, I think they are in the $450-$475 range now for the SDL's.

I don't think I need one just yet, but probably in the next few years. Last time I checked they were pricey, ~$400 or so. I guess I missed the boat on that one. How much do the all Al go for? And who sells those?

Hatterasguy · #54 04-19-2006, 09:00 PM

Do a search in the archives their is a place, called Wizard cooling or something like that. Figure about $400ish for a custom aluminum one.

If you don't need one in a hurry the custom aluminum is probably the better way to go.

pawoSD · #55 04-19-2006, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

Do me a favor, please.

Take the old radiator and hold it up to the sun. Look between the fins and report back to the forum on what you find.

Thanks.

Oh I did do that....It had oil and crud all over it, a lot of the fins were damaged/bent, and dirt all over the place, filthy and beaten. Overall very sad looking, I'll take a picture sometime soon. You could still see light though most of it though, so its not like no air could get through. It just wanted to be retired. And yes I love the thought of not having it blow up 1k miles from home.

Brian Carlton · #56 04-19-2006, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peragro

I don't think I need one just yet, but probably in the next few years. Last time I checked they were pricey, ~$400 or so. I guess I missed the boat on that one. How much do the all Al go for? And who sells those?

http://www.wizardcooling.com/

Brian Carlton · #57 04-19-2006, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

Oh I did do that....It had oil and crud all over it, a lot of the fins were damaged/bent, and dirt all over the place, filthy and beaten. Overall very sad looking, I'll take a picture sometime soon. You could still see light though most of it though, so its not like no air could get through. It just wanted to be retired. And yes I love the thought of not having it blow up 1k miles from home.

You can see light, but, did you notice how much airflow is blocked by debris in the fins? I'd bet that the capability for air to flow through the fins was restricted by over 50%.

Hatterasguy · #58 04-19-2006, 09:15 PM

Another queston too, is the internal flow restricted because of build up?

Any way to determine this?

pawoSD · #59 04-19-2006, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

You can see light, but, did you notice how much airflow is blocked by debris in the fins? I'd bet that the capability for air to flow through the fins was restricted by over 50%.

I'll agree much of the airflow was blocked, and had the radiator been younger I'd have not been so quick to buy a new one, but at 19 years old....I didn't want to mess around with it.

Plus, the new radiator was so clean and shiny!

pawoSD · #60 04-19-2006, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

Another queston to, is the internal flow restricted because of build up?

Any way to determine this?

I felt inside it with my fingers and it was all slimy and icky....plus, who knows the condition of the internal tranny cooler, if that thing went out and destroyed my tranny that'd have cost WAY more than a radiator. I am even leery on using the one in the new one, I've been thinking of getting an external cooler and just using that, but only if I get a trailer/hitch probably.