Yeah, if you go to cold climates, a 50% mix is preferred. But no more than 70% maximum. When I lived in sacramento, I put in TWO quarts of anti-freeze, one bottle of Water Wetter, and filled the rest up with distilled water (on a 10.5 quart system). Up here in Idaho it's colder so I need four quarts. Unless you get below zero F, you probably don't need more than 50% mix. If you want, you can get the "Super Radiator Cleaner" stuff which requires 6-10 hours of driving with the cleaner in the system, then drain & flush. The less a/f in the system, the better cooling will be, and the Water Wetter provides the lubricity additives required. You can trun straight water and Water Wetter if you won't ever get below freezing. The reservoir doesn't clean well, if it's really dirty, replace it. As to hoses, well, I don't think it will matter if they are replaced before or after flushing. Same with the t-stat. Oh yeah - 'stat removal is only required for the citric acid flush, not for the McParts flush.

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What I meant by the 5 liters ... is that the system probably consists of more than 8 liters...If Tim will say which car he has I will tell him exactly what the manual calls for for both 50 percent and the next amount the list in the chart...

I think it's a 1985 300D, 123.133... something like 10-11 liters (or quarts?)

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Ok, was able to take (only) two pics...LOL... I MUST take my batteries out and charge them....

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They are very specific ( no surprise) about the 50% or more...

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Yes, I agree with Leathermang regarding the percentage of antifreeze in the coolant system. The proper percentage (50% to 70%) of antifreeze is intended NOT ONLY for freezing/boiling protection, BUT ALSO for full-fledged anti-corrosion properties.

Don't be cheap on this. Buy 2 gallons (8 quarts) of Zerex-G05 (Autozone or PepBoys). In case that you cannot remove the block drain plug to completely remove all the old antifreeze/water mixture, try to pour in new antifreeze as much as you can (usually less than 5-6 quarts), then turn heater to MAX and run for about 10 minutes to mix the new antifreeze and water. After that, remove the radiator drain plug to get about 2-3 quarts of antifreeze/water mixture out of the coolant system. Put the radiator drain plug back in and add the remaining new antifreeze to the system. Use the NEW antifreeze/water mixture (not the OLD antifreeze/water mixture you drained before adding the new antifreeze) you've just drained from the radiator to top off the expansion reservoir if needed.

Best regards,

Eric

For the record, I always use a bottle of Water Wetter when I re-fill, so that takes care of the corrosion protection for me. But otherwise, yes, it would be wise to follow MB specs at 40% minimum if you do NOT add Water Wetter.

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Don't worry about me trying to skimp on the amount of antifreeze. Again, I was surprised that the capacity was so small as to require only one gallon's worth. My truck, as a comparison, takes 29 quarts of coolant.

Greg, sorry; I thought I had listed the year/model of the car in my signature in the first post (I haven't posted my signature since, as I've been told that it's considered rude by some to display a signature more than once in a single thread). It's an '85 300D Turbo with federal emissions equipment on it.

Maybe I'll do the "basic" flush prior to leaving, and put the super-long flush in for the trip down...that way I get two flushings and (hopefully) a more thorough job. And I'll forget about the Water-Wetter stuff; I had thought that it was intended to be used with a 50/50 mix, not with pure water. Heck, I'm still trying to figure out why anyone would want to run only water in the cooling system, except for cost measures...IIRC, antifreeze raises the boiling point as well as lowering the freezing point.

Thanks again! I'm still scared of the head gasket... Can anyone describe what the exhaust would smell like if the head gasket were blown? My car's never smelled like a "normal" diesel...it's more of a combination of normal diesel exhaust and what the blow-by smells like...

Good idea about the signature etiquette. I should do that too.

About WW, it DOES help with a 50/50 mix, but not as much as with pure water or a lower mix like 80/20 or whatever. The advantage is it provides better heat transfer for added cooling capacity, it was never intended to affect either boiling or freezing points. The idea is that WW helps you ever get near the boiling point in the first place, and if you're near that, you have other issues to deal with!

Not sure about the exhaust smell. I'd expect the leak would need to be pretty large to detect it with your schnozz.

Okay, so the Water Wetter is worth using.

Re: the smell, okay...actually, that leads to a second question. What should blow-by smell like? I know it seems to be a weird question, but out of the 4 diesels I've owned thus far, only two of 'em have enough blow-by to be noticeable, and the other one had a serious engine problem that was causing said blow-by. On both the 300D and that other vehicle (an '80 IH Scout with a Nissan turbo diesel; I think it had a cracked piston, but the body was so junked that I sold it instead of trying to fix it), the blow-by (and therefore the exhaust) has a sweet smell to it...unfortunately, again, I have nothing to compare it to; the truck puts out very little blow-by and what little does come out goes straight through a crankcase depression regulator valve into the intake, so smelling it isn't really an option...

I dunno, maybe I'm overanalyzing things...between this, finals, and a major fundraiser selling Christmas trees for my Scout unit, I'm under an abnormally high amoutn of stress at the moment...

On my 240D the T fitting of the backflush system is set in the hose running to the heater core in front of the intake manifold on right side of the engine - dont loose the rubber gasket that fits under the cap. And it can easily be moved and temporarily set on left side where heater core return hose goes to cyl.head.... you just set it on end of the hose and hold your thumb over the open end...... first douching the heater core, then setting it on other side of the hose to purge the cyl head galleries.

I like the valvoline 6-8 hr. flush that you use when driving....... the 30 min. stuff seems too good to be true. Prestone Orange in silver plastic jug is what I use for coolant. Maybe get yerself one of those $3 bubble tube coolant test tubes too.... you know the one that floats plastic bubbles.... I keep mine wedged in front of the radiator...... have also got tools, nuts 'n bolts cached in small bucket behind the w/w washer tank.

Its actually a fine hot, Summer day operation flushing the radiator.... so you may wanna let the pros do it this time with not much time between now and Sunday. No doubt the car will love the 4-5 hour drive and run better for having made the trip.