So, the consensus view is that, due to the lack of special anti-corrosion additives, and other specialized items, MB Coolant is the absolutely best choice. Considering the cost and availability issues, however, it seems that the Zerex G-05 is the best choice for most people with older MB's IMO. Do you have to completely flush you system of the old (green) coolant before you put in G-05? And I suppose, that this would be a great time to replace all of the old hoses (Upper and Lower Radiator, Heater Hoses, etc.)? As far as hoses go, regular aftermarket Gates or Dayco is fine, right guys?
Thanks, and God Bless,
Dave.

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My 25 year old 300SD has service records going back to its original owner (im the second owner) and has always been serviced by MB and Ferrari dealers. They always used OEM coolant. I have the original Behr radiator in my car without any modifications or neck weakness that the 126 radiators typically suffer from.

If your too cheap to pay for the correct supplies to service your car consider doing all of the people who really like these cars a favor and finding some other brand of car to drive. The damage you do now because your too cheap to maintain your car to factory specs ends up haunting other owners in the long run. Some of us intend to keep our cars on the road forever.

Well, I have no future plans to sell my 560SEL, so the only person whom I will be costing money is me . That having been said, you probably have a point when you say that the OE coolant has helped the longevity of your car's cooling system. I, on the other hand, have had to replace the radiator, due to a leak. I might add, that at the time, when the radiator started to leak from the core, it had a yellow-gold colored coolant in it, which I assume was MB coolant. It didn't seem to help the situation any, although any radiator lasting almost 20 years seems to be a good record. The green was put in as a matter of necessity and ignorance . It was the only thing available to me other than dex-cool. I honestly didn't know any better. I intend to replace the green coolant with G-05 in the very near future. I will probably replace all of the hoses at the same time. That having been said, my MB is a gas engine model, your 126 being a diesel would probably run forever on pure water provided it never got cold enough to freeze up . Anyway, I appreciate your opinion, Mr. Chase. But, no I do not like my Mercedes Benz. I LOVE my Mercedes Benz. And if I truly thought that using something other than Mercedes Benz Approved Anticorrosion-Antifreeze would cause any harm to it, I would run drain it right now, and drive my one of my other cars as fast as I could tomorrow morning to the nearest MB dealership, and buy a case of it so I wouldn't run out anytime soon. I have been riding in and driving Mercedes Benz autos my whole life. The first car I ever rode in was a Mercedes, belonging to my father, which took me home from the hospital after I was born. So, even though we don't exactly agree on what to do as far as coolants go, Mr. Chase, I respect your devotion to Mercedes-Benzes.
Thanks, and God Bless,
Dave.

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1985 Lincoln Town Car- Retired

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Keep in mind that there is a lot of real engineering involved in deciding what chemicals to use in coolant. I have a friend that does engineering work for MB here in the USA on the ML line of cars which is assembled in the USA. You would not believe the level of testing that is involved in some of the simplest aspects of their vehicles.

I personally am not a chemist nor have I done any tests to determine what chemicals will prolong the life of my radiator and head gasket so I use the suggested fluid. If the MB fluid was $100 a bottle I would still use it as you can't buy a radiator for $100 nor have your head gasket replaced that cheaply. Fluids and oils are always cheaper than OEM parts and the highly skilled labor to replace those parts.

If you truly love your car get out the manuals and read over the parts about the suggested fluids. Next time you have to change something spend the extra money and get the appropriate fluid. That is of course assuming your not more qualified than MB engineers to make decisions about what kind of fluids your car takes.

I completely can relate to some of the "logic" that is involved with second guessing the cost of the MB fluids. There are a lot of after market automotive shops that jack up the prices on MB cars "just because" there is a three pointed star on the hood. Mercedes is making a ton of money on the OEM parts they continue to sell to us owners. Do you honestly think they make a killing making their own fluids and selling them to a small market of owners that actually use the correct fluids?

On page 5 of the article, it reads, "If you buy your anti-freeze from an aftermarket source, use a reputable brand that meets current Mercedes-Benz formulation, typically labeled a G-05 coolant..."

By george, you're right. I did overlook that official recommendation for G-05. Well, I think that helps clarify things. (And, Mr. Chase, I do know that MB spends a fortune getting things just right. The engineers there have more knowledge in their thumb than 20 people like me do. But, I have to try and keep things cost-effective, If you know what I mean. But because of your persistance, I am seriously considering using Actual MB coolant.)
Thanks, and God Bless,
Dave.

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Hi,

This is a very interesting topic. It's been just a couple of months since I have my first MB and it's a 12 year old one. Unfortunately in my country most people think coolant is a waste of money because most mechanics think it is an antifreeze stuff and we don't have winter. I'm convinced it is actually one of the most important things if you want to keep your car in good shape for a long time. My MB has been running on tap water for about 10 years (previous owner by local mechanicals recomendations) and I guess abut 90% of used cars in my country are in that situation. I'm now using coolant but because of not using it from the start, I already had to replace water pump, oil cooler (and got the system contaminated w/oil), all hoses, expansion tank, thermostat, etc. The car is running ok now but that costed me a lot of $$$. Same thing happed to a VW Jetta previously owned.

The worst part is that you can't get a good coolant in my country. All you can find is crap cheap stuff ($3 a buck) and on the expensive side you can get Texaco Dex-cool or Fleetguard ES Compleat (Cummins dealer). MB coolant is not available here and the MB dealers use Texaco's Dex-cool. If I could get MB coolant, I would pay for it and use it in my car. My mother got a brand new BMW recently and my advice to her was to try to get a gallon of the original coolant and don't let any mechanic add something different.

I got affraid of using Dex-cool because all the bad things I have read in this forum and other sites. It looks like the worst crap on earth. So, my best choise was the ES Compleat and that's what I'm using now. BTW, that cost $40 a gallon in my country.

About Dex-cool I won't ever use it in my MB but I really don't think It is such a bad product. I just can't belive that Texaco and GM can be so wrong about using it wordwide. I have a Grand Vitara (originally Suzuky but made by GM in South America) and It has Dex-cool from the factory.

As a homemade experiment, I decided to fill a small glass with water and another one with 50/50 Dex-cool. I added some iron, aluminium. copper and steel to each glass. It's been a month now. As you could expect, the one with tap water is now full of corrosion and looks terrible but the one with Dex-cool looks like new and there is no sign of corrosion.

My advice: if you can get MB coolant, use it. Second choise is G-05 and third, the best one you can find in the local market.

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Juan
1995 E320 Sedan
2008 Ford Escape
RC Helicopter

When forum members bash Dex-cool, are they speaking in terms of use in our Mercedes' or in terms of use as-recommended? IMHO GM wouldn't factory-fill and specify the stuff if it wasn't good and proper. Also, I have owned many GM vehicles including a 155K mile 2001 Suburban and a 157K mile 1999 Chevy pickup and have never had a cooling system-related problem. OTOH I see many cooling system problems on this forum. (Maybe from the use of improper coolant?) Just wondered....
Chuck.

I believe the anti-dex cool rap is directed to putting dexcool in anything it didn't come from the factory. I have relatives who run cars with dexcool, and have had no negative effects, but these cars, like yours, are GM products in which Dexcool was factory fill. I've heard shop rumors that it can eat through gaskets, etc. But at this time none of these are substantiated.
Thanks, and God Bless,
Dave.

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Currently Driving:
1986 Mercedes Benz 560SEL
1994 Lincoln Town Car
1994 Cadillac Deville
1985 Lincoln Town Car- Retired

The Official Car of a Realtor- Lincoln Town Car
The Official Car of the Successful Independent Insurance Agent- Mercedes Benz S Class

Wish I took pics of my cooling system post-dexcool...

Did a COMPLETE flush. Then ran with water. Water came out as clear as it went in. Put in DexCool. 6 months later when I did my heads, the coolant was literally "globbing" in the system. Coolant pathways and cylinder walls (in the coolant pathways) were coated with thick red goop. Not rust. The color of DexCool. Took an hour with a sprayer to clean the thing out!

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Mercedes recommends replacing the coolant every three years for maintenance...so if that wasn't done, that could be your cooling system woes. Mr. Chase probably replaced his coolant as required and his cooling system will last longer.
I've seen customer's cars come in with green coolant, Benz stuff, and straight water. Guess whos cars always seem to never need any major repairs...the ones that are properly maintained by a Mercedes shop (like mine). I'm sure it has little to do with the type of coolant. It just shows what kind of person you are when it comes to your car.
The green is ok to use...it mixes with the yellow Benz, but I just think it's like putting a Motorcraft oil filter and ac delco spark plugs in the Benz. They will work, but personally it's a *****ty job.
Heck, I run MB coolant in my 450hp Fiero, but I have an aluminum radiator that cost me $600 and I don't want to replace it. Plus it makes all the GM guys ask me what the heck is that yellow stuff.
Dave

That is Funny..








Thanks for the laugh...

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This thread is a bit old and dates to the last time I bought anti-freeze for my E420! Situation has not changed, still confused. In the United States in 2013 you have to buy what is available in your area. There has been some documentation of the evils of mixing my traditional green Prestone with Zerex. The stuff I buy now is Zerex G-05 which was approved by Daimler Chrysler and is non-organic. Since then there have been a few financial debacles which have not changed the basic fact that you should not mix the green with the orange, or more correctly organic with non-organic fluids. While I would buy Prestone if it were a G-05, Zerex is the only one on my stores shelves with that on the label.

I have always used the MB yellow/goldish coolant for my '81 240D and '88 300SEL. It appears MB has now changed it to a blue color.

Is this just a color change or should I be looking for an alternative for my car older cars?

Thanks!

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BENZSTER

W123, '81 240D, Pastel Grey/Blue Tex
W126, '88 300 SEL, Artic White/Grey Leather

I have owned Mercedes, both gas and diesel, for 13 years. I have been hearing this montra that if you don't use MB coolant which is phosphate free, the plastic necks on the radiator will crack, that since the radiators are aluminum, you need special MB coolant.

Aluminum radiators have been standard issue in just about every car on the road, for the last 20 years or more. Do people really think the aluminum in a MB radiator is different from that in a VW, a BMW, or Volvo etc....? None of these companies make radiators. Behr probably makes the radiators for all of them. Nor does any car company make the gaskets in their engines. So what is so special/fragile about the radiator or gaskets in a VW that it requires a coolant different than MB? MB coolant is made here in the US. I am very much like the original poster, I don't take things for blind faith. Just like motor oil, change it often and you will not have any problems. BTW, the "evil" Prestone is no phosphate free which was one of things called for in the coolants in MB engines. Personally I have always used Zerek G-05 made here in the U.S. which btw is the same place the MB coolant is made. Marketing rule #1.....fear sells.

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