So about a year ago I had my radiator replaced at a local "high end" (mercedes, BMW) independent shop. They have a great reputation and I have used their parts desk for years. My reservoir tank is cloudy and hard to see through. Since I trusted the shop I never even opened it to look inside. Till tonight. And to my horror what was in there, green coolant! So my question is. Is this the right coolant? Is there a "good" green coolant? As far as I know the proper coolant should be red or orange.

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Sonny


86 190D N/A 2.5L Auto 265k "Ruby" -Sold-
79 300D 242k "Condi" my first -sold- RIP
2013 chevy sonic hatchback - had to for work

Today's Mercedes coolant is pale yellow. Do not know start date.

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Present
1987 300SDL
1991 300SL
1990 560SEL
2001 ML320

Past
1969 200D 1979-82
1983 300SD 1984-85
1972 250C 1982-02
1995 S350 2011
1997 S320 2012

As you have plastic components in your cooling system, you need to get the right one. Some of these so called "high end" service people are nothing but a show. The correct coolant will give you long life on your plastic radiator tanks.
There have been recent threads on here discussing it.

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

If they did use the proper coolant and you did have the green stuff already in they might have just topped it off with the Benz coolant and did not Dona full and complete flush.

Zerex G05 is only $13 a gallon, go get some.

I use Evans PG Colant at 100%.Its the best,and goes for 10 years.Older antifreezes are old tech.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran, deutschland deutschland uber alles uber alles in der welt

Just so I'm clear on this (now that I'm a convert to getting the green stuff out of there)....is the only danger the danger to the plastic parts? If so, then at least whatever damage has been done is somewhat limited. Not that the cost of these parts is insignificant....but eventually we all have to replace radiator, expansion tank, etc....

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 159k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 178k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 75k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Most anti-freeze here in the UK is either blue or green....

Whats the problem!!

I dont think the colour has any relevance to its performance. Providing its good Ethelene-Glycol and diluted correctly, there'll be no probs...

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http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...0TDnoplate.jpg

Alastair AKA H.C.II South Wales, U.K. based member

W123, 1985 300TD Wagon, 256K,
-Most recent M.B. purchase, Cost-a-plenty, Gulps BioDiesel extravagantly, and I love it like an old dog.

W114, 1975 280E Custard Yellow,
-Great above decks needs chassis welding--Really will do it this year....

Unfortunatly, I worked part-time for a couple here in Central California that were notorious for ripping off the customer....

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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership

I agree, I'll never bring my car in for work unless it is a warranty covered item.

And even then I'll check to make sure it was done correctly!


In my hometown, I can get Zerex at pretty much every auto store. NAPA and even the gas stations carry it

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

I did a little web research on this last year, and from what I could tell Sierra was the only safe green coolant to use. I'm sorry, but i can't remember the specific reason. Maybe someone else knows.

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'81 300SD

In our Cummins gensets we use a Zerex branded green coolant supplied by Cummins. Color is not a good indication of quality it is only a dye. Cheers Dan

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It's always something simple
91 300D 603.960 (from japan) 194K
92 Toyota Diesel Landcruiser HDJ81-t 116K
02 Golf TDI new head courtesy of PO
87 300D
97 BMW 525 TDS Wagon 5spd
bunch of Onan and other diesel generators

This doesn't have to be hard. Just use the correct coolant.

Yup. It's actually not expensive at all... it's a bit cheaper then VW's coolant.



-J

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

Once in a while NAPA sells it but most of the time we have to go to this one place called "Import Parts Specialists" to get Zerex. Everybody else sells green stuff and "global" mix-with-anything stuff.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

There are 2 main families of corrosion inhibitors currently used in auto applications, Only one of them is suitable for the MB cooling system in these cars. One of the reasons is that our cars have many plastic components & they are damaged in time by the non suitable type. Its not only the radiator tanks.

__________________
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving