Coolant Flush DIY instructions
02-03-2014, 04:56 PM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 23
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes
on
2 Posts
2010 GLK350 4matic, 2014 Mazda 6, 1983 Porsche 944,
Coolant Flush DIY instructions
One of the projects I recently did on this GLK350 was a coolant change.
According to the owner's manual, the coolant change on this car isn't due for awhile, something like 100 or 150k miles. This car isn't that old, however, was purchased used and likely serviced somewhere other than the MB dealership. When I checked the coolant, it appeared to have a greenish yellow tint to it, indicating it possibly had some regular auto-parts-store green mixed it at some point in its life. For that reason, we decided to do a quick drain/fill.
This is not a full flush, as we did not drain the block or the heater core. We split the difference between 'the wrong coolant probably isn't hurting anything' and 'a gallon of new coolant is only $20'. I will leave you all to discuss the merits and disadvantages of only doing a halfway job on this one. If you have an unmolested car that has only the MB coolant in it, I still would consider doing one of these half services at 80k miles or so to refresh the corrosion inhibitors and then another half service at 150k (or whenever the book says to do it) rather than doing one full flush at 150k, but thats just me.
We used Zerex G05, which has a very pale yellow/clear tint to it. I'm not sure of the dye used in the official MB coolant but word on the street is that the Zerex G05 is what MB uses. I got the gallon at Pep Boys, AAP and Autozone don't stock Zerex anymore. Use distilled water.
Start by removing the skid plate. You can remove just the front half and leave the rear, but you have to be careful separating the sections not to crack the plastic. Clearance is minimal. Also, you can do this without raising the car but in retrospect putting it on ramps would have been easier.
On the driver's side there is a radiator drain valve. Rotate it 180deg counterclockwise. It will rotate 90deg very easily, the second 90 will be significantly tougher and may require a pair of pliers. Have the drain pan ready. I like to drain coolant into something I can measure quantity with. Draining the radiator I got about 1 gallon even out.
Since I wasn't draining the block, I made a quick helper tool. I took a length of vinyl hose (I think 1"OD but can't remember for sure) and wrapped some duct tape around the end to the point where it had an okay seal with the coolant reservoir. Then I blew on the end to force some more coolant out. I blew into it about 4-5 times and got out an additional half gallon. Laugh at my unconventional methods but this whole job took me about 15 mins (minus the time taken to get the splash shield off) doing it this way.
With 1.5 gallons extracted, thats around 6 quarts. The system holds 8.9, so I got out around 2/3 of the coolant.
Mixing 50/50, I first poured about 3 quarts of coolant in, then around 2 quarts of water and let the system settle. Some european cars (namely BMW) can be a pain in the *** about getting the air out of the system, the GLK seemed to not have that problem. I squeezed the upper rad hose a few times to work out as much air as I could and topped off the last quart of water. Drove it around the block to get it up to temp and the next day, checked the coolant level, topping off with the Zerex to get to the correct full level.
Total time for job: 30 mins
Total cost: $20 for coolant, $2 for distilled water.
According to the owner's manual, the coolant change on this car isn't due for awhile, something like 100 or 150k miles. This car isn't that old, however, was purchased used and likely serviced somewhere other than the MB dealership. When I checked the coolant, it appeared to have a greenish yellow tint to it, indicating it possibly had some regular auto-parts-store green mixed it at some point in its life. For that reason, we decided to do a quick drain/fill.
This is not a full flush, as we did not drain the block or the heater core. We split the difference between 'the wrong coolant probably isn't hurting anything' and 'a gallon of new coolant is only $20'. I will leave you all to discuss the merits and disadvantages of only doing a halfway job on this one. If you have an unmolested car that has only the MB coolant in it, I still would consider doing one of these half services at 80k miles or so to refresh the corrosion inhibitors and then another half service at 150k (or whenever the book says to do it) rather than doing one full flush at 150k, but thats just me.
We used Zerex G05, which has a very pale yellow/clear tint to it. I'm not sure of the dye used in the official MB coolant but word on the street is that the Zerex G05 is what MB uses. I got the gallon at Pep Boys, AAP and Autozone don't stock Zerex anymore. Use distilled water.
Start by removing the skid plate. You can remove just the front half and leave the rear, but you have to be careful separating the sections not to crack the plastic. Clearance is minimal. Also, you can do this without raising the car but in retrospect putting it on ramps would have been easier.
On the driver's side there is a radiator drain valve. Rotate it 180deg counterclockwise. It will rotate 90deg very easily, the second 90 will be significantly tougher and may require a pair of pliers. Have the drain pan ready. I like to drain coolant into something I can measure quantity with. Draining the radiator I got about 1 gallon even out.
Since I wasn't draining the block, I made a quick helper tool. I took a length of vinyl hose (I think 1"OD but can't remember for sure) and wrapped some duct tape around the end to the point where it had an okay seal with the coolant reservoir. Then I blew on the end to force some more coolant out. I blew into it about 4-5 times and got out an additional half gallon. Laugh at my unconventional methods but this whole job took me about 15 mins (minus the time taken to get the splash shield off) doing it this way.
With 1.5 gallons extracted, thats around 6 quarts. The system holds 8.9, so I got out around 2/3 of the coolant.
Mixing 50/50, I first poured about 3 quarts of coolant in, then around 2 quarts of water and let the system settle. Some european cars (namely BMW) can be a pain in the *** about getting the air out of the system, the GLK seemed to not have that problem. I squeezed the upper rad hose a few times to work out as much air as I could and topped off the last quart of water. Drove it around the block to get it up to temp and the next day, checked the coolant level, topping off with the Zerex to get to the correct full level.
Total time for job: 30 mins
Total cost: $20 for coolant, $2 for distilled water.
The following 3 users liked this post by ddombrowski:
07-12-2015, 03:47 AM
#3
Member
quick question
Quick question.
I think I might have put in the wrong type of coolant in my W204 and I didn't use distilled water to mix with the coolant... instead, I used drinking water. So I'm considering to do a coolant flush.
Can I use one of those "Air Power America 5060 Topsider Multi-Purpose Fluid Removing System" (http://smile.amazon.com/America-5060.../dp/B001445IZ8) to extract the coolant out, instead of "draining" it? Thoughts or comments? Thanks!
I think I might have put in the wrong type of coolant in my W204 and I didn't use distilled water to mix with the coolant... instead, I used drinking water. So I'm considering to do a coolant flush.
Can I use one of those "Air Power America 5060 Topsider Multi-Purpose Fluid Removing System" (http://smile.amazon.com/America-5060.../dp/B001445IZ8) to extract the coolant out, instead of "draining" it? Thoughts or comments? Thanks!
02-09-2017, 07:13 PM
#4
Super Member
is there a bleeder valve to bleed the air?
edit...
seem the GLK is much easier then others, i just drove the car up on my ramp to get the front end in the air and let the engine run for 5 minutes with the cap off.
edit...
seem the GLK is much easier then others, i just drove the car up on my ramp to get the front end in the air and let the engine run for 5 minutes with the cap off.
Last edited by AzCamel; 02-13-2017 at 08:58 PM.
02-01-2019, 08:19 PM
#5
Junior Member
Haha! @ddombrowski I used your duct tape on the tubing idea to blow my coolant out, too... it did get a little extra. Thanks for the tip! *TWSS*
