Coolant flush....
 

Hi everyone, im new to this forum.

I was wondering if someone could help me out! I have a 55(2005) plate S320cdi and am in the UK.

Bascially i wanted to do a complete fush of the coolant and radiator on the car. I wanted to know what the best way to do this was? Should i be disconnecting a pipe and flowing water through to get all the old coolant out? Not really sure how to do this simple task on a mercedes! :confused:

Im looking for the drain plug on the radiator, it should be on the underside of the radiator and also if anyone has a good method of flushing the coolant that they use i would be grateful if they could maybe enlighten me?

Can some one help?

Thanks
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif

you lucky MOMOMO... nice car.
sorry I can't help you with the specifics. just had to chime in on the nice car you have and formally request pictures please. (of the car)
there should be a slotted drain plug on the driver's side of the bottom of the radiator. if you can't find a drain, you could always remove the lower radiator hose at the radiator. (with a cold block I hope!)
for flushing it, I would fill it with fresh tap water, drive around to get the car back up to full temp, then drain it fill with distilled, drive, fill with distilled, drain. then fill with a proper mix of distilled/antifreeze. if you have bad or heavily treated tap water, you may want to skip the first tap flush.

Thankyou :D, i will see what i can do about the pictures. I will have a good look tomorrow and see if i can get the flush done. I was thinking of doing something similar to what you said. Good to know im on the right track.

Its just that these newer mercedes have so many specific ways to maintain them i just didnt want to do something wrong and cause any damage or problems.

I have a 1998 W202 which i do everything on myself but guess you could say that this is a completely different 'kettle of fish' as they say!

Thanks

Disconnect the lower pipe and upper pipes. Let it drain. Reconnect the pipes, refill, then run the engine, massaging the upper pipe for a good 10-15 minutes until all the air has burped out. Keep refilling the reservoir as the air burps out.

Make sure you wash the coolant away, animals are sometimes attracted to the taste and its poisonous.

Thanks Parrot of Doom appreciate the advice!

Just a few questions on this procedure. This would be for my 1979 240D.

I just took a look a my coolant level and there was this brown sludge in there, never saw it before. So, I'm thinking, I should do a flush and refill with new coolant.

1) My tap water is very hard, abnormally salty. Do I want to use that to flush the radiator? (I'm thinking not..)

2) What about using a cleaning solution? Are they worthwhile? I heard somewhere it might make aggravate any possible rust spots and facilitate leaking?

3) I have the official mb coolant product, ready to mix 50/50 with distilled water.

Anything else I need to know? Tried to find a DIY on this, but could not. I guess its really simple for the pros on this board, but for me, it will be the first time and I would appreciate any tips or a point to the right direction.

Thanks in advance.

Brown Sludge
 

'Could this "Brown Sludge" have any oily consistency to it?
[Feel it between your fingers,blot it on a clean paper towel]
Or is it "Rusty Brown" ?

How long has it been since the last coolant flush and refill?

If you are concerned about a "Citric Acid " flush attacking the aged system
components...Use plain Distilled water to flush.

There is a drain plug in the bottom of the radiator.

How are operating temperatures?

Parrot of Doom's instructions will work well for the 240D.

vstech's "Triple" guarantees a through flush.

Hi compress ignite,

It is definitely a copper-rusty colored brown, with a slightly grainy feel.

And now I notice the coolant is green! (That is bad, isn't it?) Oh well, that will change with the coolant I change.

Can't say offhand when the last flush was, probably a long, long time ago. Would have to check my records - lots of records to go through, lol.

If it makes any difference, the ambient temperature here is always mild to hot, never cold (hawaii). Running temp has been pretty normal/no major fluctuations, never noticed anything unusual in the temp gauge lately.

OK, I'm off to get about 3 gallons X 4 =12 gallons of distilled water (3 flushes plus the last fill)( I understand about 11 liters for one fill). That's going to be almost $30 for distilled water bottles at wal-mart...oh well, cheaper than a new radiator!

Edit: 1 gallon at wal-mart was $3.00, so I am going to use the steam distiller to make about 9 gallons to flush. Then use the store bought steam distilled water to add the coolant for the fill.

MBZR4EVER - you do know about the drain plug on the right side of the block? just ahead of the starter. you might get a little more junk out of it if you pull it. there are a lot of write ups on radiator flush, citric acid flush etc...

Charlie

charmalu,

I was just outside looking for it, but then it started pouring down rain, even under the carport, it got too wet. Will look again later.

Now might be a good time to check those records, when was the last flush, when was the t-stat last changed, etc?

The block drain on the right side of the starter by the tube that feeds oil to the turbo and the block heater.

Starter's on the left side of the block under the oil filter in the 60x engines. And the 85 617 IIRC.

Sixto
87 300D

charmalu and sixto,

Found what I think is the starter, however, not very visible from the top, is it? Tried looking underneath, don't think that is gonna work, since I cannot lift the car, not much room to work from underneath.

Question: can the (behr) radiator have 2 drain plugs? From what I can see from the bottom, there are two bolts (fasteners?) underneath the radiator. As a last resort, I can disconnect the bottom hose, I guess, to drain the old out.

Ok, the records have the last flush at 7/05, with no t-state change out. So I am thinking of replacing the t-stat this time.

BTW, the coolant looked more normal today, no visible brown stuff, just kind of a brown film on the green coolant. I'm guessing the coolant is just breaking down, instead of some actual rust taking place. (Fingers crossed!)

Last time I ran it, it got to 175 F, this was last night.

I'm an idiot. The block drain is on the right side of the block, not on the right side of the starter.

Sixto
87 300D

OK, I found the block drain, finally. On the passenger side, around the area under the air filter. Gonna put in an order for a new t-stat and when that gets here, then I will flush.

Here is a link with some pictures:

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/OM617BlockDrainPlug

Can I get away with the one gallon (3.785 liters) of the mercedes brand of coolant that I already have? Or do I have to buy another gallon at $35?

Capacity for this 240D is 11 liters.

I understand a 40/60 ratio is acceptable. One gallon of the coolant will equal approx 34% concentrate.

Is that close enough for Hawaiian temperatures (mainly warm to hot)?

If I have to add more coolant to get the 50/50 ratio, can I mix the ZerexG-05, or do I have to stick with the mercedes brand?

(I'm hoping everyone will say 34% is good enough.)