[cghag1]

I'm doing some work on the car and that includes new coolant. I have a couple of unopened gallons of Dex-Cool, the orange stuff. I forget the actual brand, Prestone maybe. Anyway, any problems with running this coolant in the car? It used to have the green stuff in there, which has been drained, including the block. I have not flushed any plain water through the system.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[euromobile900]

I'd stay far, far away from Dex-Cool if I were you. When you mix that stuff with other types of coolant (even a little) it can form goopy sludge. And you're never going to get the old coolant entirely out of the block, even by flushing and using the block drain--there's always going to be some hiding out in there.

I don't think I know of anybody else having ever used Dex-Cool in a classic 900. Our resident authorities are split between the old standby "green $#!+" and yellow or red G-05 coolant (of which the fabled Mercedes Coolant is a variety).

 

[cghag1]

Thanks euromobile900. After doing some searching on the various coolant types I was more confused than ever. I do remember something about the non-compatability of the Dex-Cool but forgot about that when I posted. I have some of the green stuff as well but maybe I'll upgrade to some better, compatible coolant.

By the way, you bear an uncanny resemblance to a certain singer from New Jersey. I'll bet you get confused with him all the time! :cheesy:

 

[milos]

yellow or red G-05 coolant (of which the fabled Mercedes Coolant is a variety).

I have mercedes coolant in the car and it is blueish not red or yellow
Are there different types of M coolant?

 

[euromobile900]

Well, it used to be that all Merc (and G-05) coolant was yellow, back in the late '80s. It also used to be that all Dex-Cool was reddish and all normal coolant was green. It just ain't so anymore. The color is from dye, not from chemical composition, meaning that manufacturers can use whatever dyes they like. The most common colors for G-05 coolant are yellow and red, but it doesn't surprise me that Merc coolant is, or was at one point, blue. I bet it's G-05. Read the label and it'll tell you. Look for the ingredient "glysantin" or the acronym HOAT (Hybrid Organic Acid Technology) or the spec G-05. What I DO know is that when Tom Townsend recommended Merc coolant in the early '90s, it was the only G-05 spec coolant available in the USA. So what he recommended was, in effect, G-05 coolant.

All you need to know about mixing is that you can mix G-05 and normal coolant indiscriminately, and you should not mix Dex-Cool with anything.

By the way, you bear an uncanny resemblance to a certain singer from New Jersey. I'll bet you get confused with him all the time!

It's been remarked that I look like the Boss, but only when I have suitably long hair and a dirty enough shirt...

 

[900t]

Even without mixing I hate Dexcool. If Dexcool gets exposed to air it forms a big sludge I think with the iron from inside the engine, and it likes to eat the intake manifold gaskets on GM cars. My father's Grand Prix is all ****ed up from Dexcool, it ate the gaskets which leak, but also formed tons of sludge that has clogged the whole friggin system. It is fun to have overheating engine with no heater function at -20 F

I've never seen any real evidence that the regular generic green stuff is bad. Of course the green stuff was always recommended to change every 2 years or 30 000 miles, and people leave it in for 10 years and 100 000 miles and sometimes the headgasket fails.

 

[turbo1992]

I use Febi Nr. 01089 from eeuroparts. 1 to 1 [with distilled water]. In there a year with no problems.

 

[turbo1992]

I have mercedes coolant in the car and it is blueish not red or yellow
Are there different types of M coolant?

The Febi 01089 I use is blue.

 

[milos]

The color is from dye, not from chemical composition, meaning that manufacturers can use whatever dyes they like. The most common colors for G-05 coolant are yellow and red, but it doesn't surprise me that Merc coolant is, or was at one point, blue. I bet it's G-05. Read the label and it'll tell you. Look for the ingredient "glysantin" or the acronym HOAT (Hybrid Organic Acid Technology) or the spec G-05.

Good to know that I was not fraud victim it is bought in MB service though.

I use Febi Nr. 01089
The Febi 01089 I use is blue.

I will probably use it next time, MB coolant is hard to find in here, even in their service it is not available any more. Salesman told me that MB is using castrol or something like that now.

 

[c900]

The only coolant I use is (seeing as I live in Australia) Australian-made Nulon Long-Life Coolant (aka LLC) which meets the Saab specification and is supplied as a green-dyed concentrate that is mixed 1:1 with clean water to create the right concentration to use in my classic 900's (and in my 9000).

I haven't tried sourcing any of the 'mercedes' coolant products.

Craig.