I just picked up a sweet 87 300SDl. Can someone tell me why O' WHY. I have green coolant in my car. I can't believe this, I couldn't find any of the replacement coolant at any of the local shops so I stopped by the local MB dealership and picked up the good stuff.

Anyone have any ideas or tricks of the trade to make sure all of it is out of the system before I use the MB coolant. I don't want to take it to a shop to have them flush out the coolant. Isn't there a tool that I can tape into the coolant line and flush it out with a garden hose?

Thanks Michael

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Professional greasecar installer
Austin TX


98 Jetta TDI with grease car kit + veg-therm (totaled)
87 MB 300SDL running on B99 / greasecar kit + 30 fphe
www.austingreaseguys.com

You could drain it, fill it with water (distilled) drive it around the block twice with the heater on, drain it again and fill it with the cooling system capacity/2 of antifreze, then fill the rest of the way with more distilled water.

There may be a drain plug on the block like on the 617 too.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

You should be able to get a Prestone flushing kit at Checker/Napa/PepBoys that includes a fitting you splice into a heater hose. I got mine years ago, and you can move it from car to car, just replace the heater hose. A garden hose is attached to this flushing connection so the crud is forced out the drain. Use the hose at a low volume so you do not over-pressure the cooling system. Your house water probably has 40-60 psi, and your radiator runs at 15-18 psi. You can refill with distilled water, as mentioned, drain and repeat a couple of times to ensure you have virtually 100% distilled water. Drain it a last time, refill with "good stuff" and top up with more distilled water. Good for 100,000 miles.

230/8

But why are you worried about green coolant. I had an 87 300SDL and I ran green coolant in it for years....no problemo.

240Joe

i know i know i know but my sdl has 411100 miles on it and only coolant in it is green

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commercial fisherman diesel in my blood in my boats trucks and Dear old Dad has had me drivin them since i got my first license in 1968
1986 300 SDL 427654
1999 Chevy Crew Cab Dually 225423
1986 300 SDL 287000 Dad's
1987 190 Turbo 158000 Mom's (my inheritance)

This is why:


That used to be a monovalve diaphragm.

I just hooked the garden hose up to a disconnected coolant hose, screwed a 5/8" barb fitting onto the hose, put it into the coolant hose, and sprayed away with the block drain undone. Then I poured some distilled water through it to get rid of any minerals in the hose water, and added the coolant/water mix.

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Andrew

1989 Volvo 745- 202K

I can attest to the green stuff mucking things up. I recently had to replace my monovalve that was 22 years old. The screen and the inside of the unit were perfectly clean with no residue at all. I have only used MB coolant.

In my travels to the wrecking yards, I pull as many 126 parts that I can to keep for future use. In the cars with coolant other than MB coolant, the insides of the monovalves and aux water pumps look just like the pictures in the previous post.
By the way, I hope I don't jinx this, but my radiator is original, and my plastic neck for the upper rad hose is perfectly fine with no cracks or residue around it. I can't say the same for the cars that have been using green stuff.

John

I've also changed a monovalve after years of using the green stuff.

It was perfectly clean.

You're barking up the wrong tree.

240Joe

I didn't know there was another coolant (other than green) when I had my 300SD. No problems there that I ever encountered.

You're probably OK with green coolant as long as you change it frequently. I think the issue with your standard Prestone and others is that they tend to change chemistry as they react with the metals in the engine. Over time, my understanding is they move away from a neutral or slightly acidic PH to become more basic. This is bad for aluminum and plastics. You can avoid this by changing the coolant every two years, probably.

If you use the proper coolant, which I understand to be designed to resist PH change, you can extend the service life to 4 or 5 years without worry. In the long run, this saves you money. So why not do that?

Here are some application charts. Note that the Zerex G-05 (what is generally recommended if not buying the Genuine MB coolant) is a unique formulation with a 5 year/150,000 mile service interval.

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1979 300D 040 Black on Black - 1985 300D Maaco job (sadly sprayed over 199 Black Pearl Metallic) on Palamino

http://i.imgur.com/LslW733.jpg

The Baja Arizona Oil Burners Send a message if you'd like to join the fun
Left to Right - UberWasser, Iridium, Stuttgart-->Seattle,, mannys9130

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OMG another green coolant topic, brought back from the dead..aka..7 years....and there is mention of a garden hose I am staying far far far away from this one

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Better yet, it has 240Joe, the fake woman who said that he would never do oil changes on his cars again to prove that they were unnecessary!

How can we work using WVO as a motor oil into this thread?

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

uh oh....There goes mr luna making it worse for me

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For the record, I knew it was a resurrection.

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1979 300D 040 Black on Black - 1985 300D Maaco job (sadly sprayed over 199 Black Pearl Metallic) on Palamino

http://i.imgur.com/LslW733.jpg

The Baja Arizona Oil Burners Send a message if you'd like to join the fun
Left to Right - UberWasser, Iridium, Stuttgart-->Seattle,, mannys9130

Visit the W123 page on iFixit for over 70 helpful DIY guides!

Please post any independent laboratory findings to back ANY of your claims and suppositions you've written here above?