Can MB coolant be green?
 

Are there both green and orange MB coolant?

1992 300D
Since I bought my car used, my car had green MB coolant.

I recently had coolant changed (required every 3 years) at a reputable MB independent, and the coolant is still green.
The invoice says they used MB factory antifreeze.

I purchased MB coolant from Fastlane for possible top up in the near future.
This coolant is orange!

I searched this board and found some people saying that green coolant would kill MB cars.

Was the service done on St. Patrick's Day?

I think that reputable shop isn't so reputable.... or they hired someone new. The green stuff can't be the proper coolant. Or they probably saw green coolant and figured they could save a few bucks because the owner didn't know any better.

The green coolant won't kill your engine, but it's not good for the long haul. It'll deteriorate the rubber hoses and may cause premature failure of the water pump. Not worth it to save a few dollars.

Several people in this forum recommended that indi.

By the way, I asked an MB dealer. They said they will call me back.

I guess you are still
 

waiting on the call back. All the MB coolant that I have ever used was not green. I just recently picked up this '81 300D and flushed and filled today. I was AMAZED at all the rust build up that came out when I flushed the radiator. I am in the process of cleaning it up over the next few days. This is what the inside of the upper radiator hose looked like:eek::eek:. The only thing that will go back in there when I get it cleaned up will ONLY be the MB stuff.

The green stuff came out and I'm pretty sure it has been on a pretty steady diet of the stuff. Use at your own risk:rolleyes:.

I got response from the dealer (Herb Chambers, Sommerville, MA).

They say that the MB coolant they use is kind of slitghtly yellowish ~ orange.

They added that some MB cars are OK with other maker's coolant, and that I have to look up manual for my cars.

There is a sheet of paper that came with my car (may be somewhat out-dated). It has MB approved oils, AFT, coolant part number, etc.
The coolant part number on that sheet is the same as what is on the independent's invoice. It is also the same as what's on the bottle of coolant I received from FastLane.

I will call the independent on Monday.
What shall I do if they insist that the green stuff is OK?

Some people on this board said that the indi is better than dealers, though expensive.

orange or green?
 

I'm in your area and have had nothing but bad experiences with Herb Chambers in Somerville. Big $ and shoddy work.
Orange is best. Green will be OK for awhile, but when it's time to flush, do a thorough job and put in the orange. You can do it yourself.
What local indy are you using?
Want any reccomendations?

I went to John's Foreign Cars several times since I bought my car last year.
The "green" coolant flush (required every 3 years for my car) was done at Hatch&Sons.

I also went to Chambers, Sommerville. An unsatisfactory job done there was roof trim (water shield? from A pillar to end of the roof). The end part was loose and the rubber did not match. They just installed new clip to make it tight, but did not adjust the rubber position. The service advisor pulled the rubber to the end at my complaint, but now the rubber recessed back leaving a whole at rear - water will go in and make rust -. I should have requested complete reinstallation.

The tranny leak done at Chambers seems to be OK. I do not see fluid below my car anymore.

If I do the flush myself, how do I despose the fluid?

While we're on the subject of indies in MA, anybody know any place good on the south shore? I'm in Norwell.

How do you dispose of the fluid?
 

Leave it on the independent shop's door step.

Coolant discussions can turn into oil wars. I bought a parts car with a good motor which sat for 2-1/2 years. Had green coolant. No problems, no rust, no pitting anywhere in the aluminum. Radiator didn't leak, hoses great inside. That said, the green stuff gets acidic and can shorten the life of plastic parts. Given the life of our cars, and the expense of parts, I belive its wise to use the MB coolant which is slightly orange. MB coolant is what I put in that parts car engine when I put it in my daily driver.

To dispose, flush it down the toilet. I believe that's approved in many places with sewers. If I had a septic, I'd find another place for it.

Re: I guess you are still
 

Rust per se has more to do with the iron/mineral content of the water than the antifreeze anyway.

Thanks Rockin - I did not realize that. Maybe a diet of distilled water and MB coolant:). The stuff that came out was pretty nasty looking anyway.

Another dealer mechanic's comment:

the indi mignt have used orange MB fluid after flushing but it looks still green because some fluids still remain even after flushing. I may need a couple of flushing to completely remove the green color from previous green coolant.

This is very true, after throughly draining but not flushing mine(clean as a whistle), my G-05 has an orange tint to it now. If the MB stuff is kinda clear amber it will take on another color pretty easily.

I'd still change it again for the *right* stuff, more because I'm a prick about some things than because I think it matters a hoot.



And there was a long discusion of german OEM water/coolant recomendations on the VW diesel list years ago, about low sulfates and some other stuff. It was decided after a long while that they have crapy mineral filled water in europe, and were overly paranoid.. YMMV.. :)

Its not desirable to mix coolant types. The dealer probably just added green to bring the level up to the right amount of what was already in the car. Their computer probably has only a line item for MB coolant.

engatwork,

Distilled water is highly "corossive" and should ONLY be used with coolant. NEVER put just distilled water - it will cause rust faster than anything. MB service docs says clean drinking water is fine. I have a PUR filter on my kitchen faucet and that's what goes in the car for water.

Brian - I rephrased my statement - thanks.

md21722,

You mean they did not flush? They just topped off?

I also had them flush brake fluid (required every 2 years).

The price for these flushes was not small.

I have no idea what the shop did because I did not see them do the work. However, I suspect they drained your coolant and refilled with the green stuff since that's what you had in there already. I think that qualifies as 'changing the coolant'.

I called the independent. Below is what he said.
========================
The MB coolant is almost clear. In my car, it looks green because of the plastic reservoir color and some remnants of old coolant in other area.
========================

It is true that MB coolant has light color.
I poored MB coolant and Shellzone (green) on each transparent plastic cup. Half filled.
I can read the newspaper underneath the cup through the MB coolant, while I cannot read through the Shellzone.

I did not know that old coolant is left after flush (flush is different from drain).

It sounds like he should have said "drain and replace" instead of "flush".

The standard MB dealer procedure is a drain & refill. They charge a lot more to actually FLUSH the system before refilling. At least that's what I was told when I interrogated the service advisors at the dealer about exactly what I'd get for my money.

BTW - the MB coolant is identical to Zerex G-05, and both are a light yellow/amber color. I've stopped calling it "orange" because the GM DexCool (aka DeathCool) and some other "long life" antifreeze products are a neon Halloween orange, and the MB stuff looks nothing like that. MB coolant looks more like light beer.

Oh and I very strongly recommend using the correct MB/G-05 stuff in an MB, it's easily available, and the cost difference is negligible.

;)

These are some pics from ebay.

Some have non-green coolant expansion tank.

Some have green coolant.

.

They likely just drained and filled, mine had orange, so my g-05 has a little orange tint. Stick your finger in it and see just how green it really is, should be pretty light shade if this is the case.

dwest,
I tried but I could not see drain plug. Must I remove the undershield plastic to access drain plug from underside the car? If this is the case, it is difficult for me.

According to a post, it takes 6 hours to drain coolant. Does it really take so long?

According to some posts, I need to remove thermostat to drain old coolant better. Should I do that?



wolf_walker
It is light green. Lighter than Shell's green antifreeze.
The indi who did the coolant change charges a little more than a dealer in my town. I wish they flush the old fluid more thoroughly at that price.

The above ebay pictures are all Mercedes'.

Remove the filler cap & then open the drain valve on the passenger side of the radiator. If your radiator doesn't have one (all of my do but I only have 86-87 models) then remove the lower radiator hose from the radiator. You can then close the valve or put the radiator hose back on and refill the system. Note how much you took out (collect it in a pan) and put that much back in. Do that a few times and you should get the MB coolant color you want.