I am currently using 100% antifreeze in my cooling system on my 87 300E. Is this okay? My temp stays under the 100 deg. mark even on hot days or sitting in traffic. will this non mixture effect my engine in any way? Your comments will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Adam

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Current Stable:
01 ML55 AMG
92 500E (a few mods)
87 300E (lots of mods)
00 Chevy 3500HD Diesel Box Truck
68 18' Donzi Marine
06 GT i-Drive7 1.0 Mountain Bike (with GPS!)

PREVIOUSLY OWNED:83 300SD, 87 420SEL, 88 420SEL, 90 420SEL, 86 560SEL, 86 190E 2.3-16V AMG, 94 E320

You must use a mix, usually 50/50 with water (distilled preferably).

I know a guy that built a homebuilt airplane with a foam core cowling around a liquid cooled engine. He built it from a kit that was well engineered. He could not get the temperatures to come down into the acceptable ranges so he cut out huge sections of the cowling to get better air flow. After considerable work he discovered that one must use a mixture of water with the antifreeze. He ruined the cowling for nothing!

True story....airplane was built at the Winona, Ms. airport.

I believe the heat transfer capacity of water is much better than antifreeze. For maximum heat transfer, you'd run 100% water. However, you need some antifreeze to keep the water from freezing (naturally) and also it serves as a water pump lubricant (to some small extent) and it has corrosion inhibitors.

By running 100% antifreeze, you impair the heat transfer capabilities of the coolant - you might have "hot spots" near the cylinder walls that are not reflected in the temperature gauge.

In most cases 50%/50% mix of water/antifreeze works well.

Ken

Thanks! that all makes sense. i will switch to 50/50 mix tomarrow. next question,,, what is the total liquid capacity of my cooling system in my 300E??
Thanks again.
Adam

__________________
Current Stable:
01 ML55 AMG
92 500E (a few mods)
87 300E (lots of mods)
00 Chevy 3500HD Diesel Box Truck
68 18' Donzi Marine
06 GT i-Drive7 1.0 Mountain Bike (with GPS!)

PREVIOUSLY OWNED:83 300SD, 87 420SEL, 88 420SEL, 90 420SEL, 86 560SEL, 86 190E 2.3-16V AMG, 94 E320

MB recommends a a mix of 55% antifreeze and 45% water. This will provide the best freeze protection (to -50 degrees F.) and boil over (to +268 degrees F.). Recall water freezes at 32 and boils over at 212. The 5% difference in mix does yield better protection without sacrificing the cooling effect of the water. Ken is correct, water transfers heat better than pure antifreeze and all manufacturers recommend mixing water with antifreeze. Antifreeze prevents corrosion/rust/cavitation. Water pumps use a seal to protect the bearings from the antifreeze/water mixture and some antifreeze manuf. claim their product lubricates this seal to prevent leakage.

Some of the new antifreezes made by Zerex and Texaco can last up to 5 years and 100,000 miles - look at the labels to find them. The older formulations should be changed every 2 years or 24,000 miles.

Your owners manual should have the info about the capacity of your cooling system. The table of contents or index will tell you where to look.

Hope this helps.

Tom

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1977 300D: 300,000+ miles

American Honda: Factory Trained Technician & Honor Grad.
Formerly:
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Should you use the 5 yr. stuff, Havoline orange colored is OK for use in Mercedes. There may be other brands that are also suitable.

Aren't most other coolant brands unsuitable for MBZ's?
I hear that they have an alkaline ph, whereas MBZ coolant is ph-neutral and does not eat away at the plastic parts.
Is that correct?
Thanks,
F.J.

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F.J.
81 300 SD grey/palomino 168K miles
84 190E 2.3 black/grey 64K miles (wrecked)
85 190E 2.3 maroon/palomino 92K miles
88 300E desert red/palomino 204k miles
(made to look like a '94-95)
92 400E desert taupe/creme beige 120K miles
(converted to 94-95 E420 looks)

You have just trod into a can of worms by bringing up that topic. Do a search and you will find that the coolant threads have been debated and exhausted to no end...

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Thanks, I will do that!
F.J.

__________________
F.J.
81 300 SD grey/palomino 168K miles
84 190E 2.3 black/grey 64K miles (wrecked)
85 190E 2.3 maroon/palomino 92K miles
88 300E desert red/palomino 204k miles
(made to look like a '94-95)
92 400E desert taupe/creme beige 120K miles
(converted to 94-95 E420 looks)

I hate beating a dead horse, but what is the net-wisdom on distilled water mixed 50/50 with MB antifreeze for MB cooling systems?

Some forum members have said, don't use distilled water because it can cause corrosion. But isn't that only if used 100%? If mixed with MB antifreeze, doesn't the corrosive property go away.

I'm torn because job 20-010 of the MB M104 Engine Service Manual states:

"Use water which is clean and not too hard. Drinking water fequently, but not always, satisifes requirements. The content of dissovled substances in the water may lead to corrosion. If in doubt, use distilled water."

Is the above still MB's official word, or has it been superceeded?

Thanks in advance,
:-) neil
1988 360TE AMG
1993 500E

BTW- here's a link of the actual text, scroll down to bottom:

I just recently checked into this as I need to replace the radiator on my 300TE. I can't remember from what sources I received my information, but I came to the following conclusions:

1. 50/50 (or in that close vacinity) is proper. Antifreeze helps water do its job heating and then cooling the engine. In addition, it helps by preventing water from freezing and has an additional wetting effect which helps to prevent and remove air bubbles from resting (and thus aids slightly in lubricating). Ultimatley, though, water is what does the work.

2. Regular antifreeze will work at about $6.00 a gallon. Orange will add some additional protection because of the ph issue and, from your dealer, probably runs $10.00 a gallon. I'd spring for the orange.

3. While regular water will frequently be fine, distilled guarantees it will be fine (no particulate matter or other impurities). Around here, with high iron/sulfur well water, I'd never put tap water in my tank. Like the orange/green/yellow antifreeze issue, the difference in cost is so minimal, why not get all the benefits available?

Hans Ribbens

Also, ONLY use the MB antifreeze (what's $10 over 2-3 years). It has a neutral PH level.

The regular green stuff is not neutral. I don't know if the "orange" stuff is more neutral, but you can test it.

You can get PH strips from you local pool supply OR antifreeze test strips from NAPA.

:-) neil