Antifreeze

[jack avant]

I have a 1985 300 SD. How can I tell what type antifreeze I have in the car? It appears to be orange and I think it could be Mercedes antifreeze, but I do not know. Thanks
Jack

[SD Blue]

Is it orange or amber?

The Mercedes antifreeze is lightly colored amber, almost clear.

Orange antifreeze, that is opaque enough that you can't see through it, is something strange used by GM I believe.

[Zacharias]

Unless your system is a bit overfull and your overflow tank fills right up, it's hard to tell exactly from that.

You really need to open the radiator drain and drain a bit out into a container and look. The drain is on the driver's side bottom of the rad... the plug has an X-pattern head so you will need a wide flat screwdriver to open it.

If you don't know how long its been in there, you could do worse than do a drain, flush and refill in any case. You can either use Mercedes AF or Zerex G-05.

[whunter]

Originally Posted by jack avant

I have a 1985 300 SD. How can I tell what type antifreeze I have in the car? It appears to be orange and I think it could be Mercedes antifreeze, but I do not know. Thanks
Jack

MB used the standard GREEN coolant through at least 1985.

Is Antifreeze, like Aspirin, "Hype"?
Is Antifreeze, like Aspirin, "Hype"? - PeachParts Mercedes ShopForum

Coolant RED vs. GREEN
Coolant RED vs. GREEN - Page 5 - PeachParts Mercedes ShopForum



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[Kestas]

I shudder to think that the antifreeze would be original.

My buddy's ML320 has orange coolant. His vehicle is dealer maintained with a new engine at 50K. I bet the orange coolant is dealer coolant. But I can't be sure because the information is second hand.

[whunter]

Originally Posted by jack avant

I have a 1985 300 SD. How can I tell what type antifreeze I have in the car? It appears to be orange and I think it could be Mercedes antifreeze, but I do not know. Thanks
Jack

Zerex DEx-COOL Antifreeze is Orange.

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[Kestas]

You can't always tell by color.

http://www.eetcorp.com/antifreeze/Coolants_matrix.pdf