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So I went to fill up my coolant the other day (it down about 1/4 of an inch) with this
apparently, that's not the right one. this one is blue. But my color is more amber or yellow.
so I'm confused. I went to O'reiley's and they tell me my coolant color should be pink. Huh? Mine is definitely not pink. It's amber to slight green.
one more piece of info. The owners manual says this: 326.0 (which means premixed anti-corrosion fluids) and has a bunch of products but this is the only one I can match up online:
long ago, Mercedes used G05 formula coolant, which is gold. they switched to longer lasting G48 which is blue, 325.0 or 326.0. the newest Mercedes (2015+) use a G40 formula which is pink-violet, 325.6. or 326.6 (325 is concentrate, 326 is ready-mix) the gold and blue are inter-mixable (treat it like the gold after mixing in terms of life), the VIOLET IS NOT MIXIBLE WITH ANYTHING ELSE..
the mercedes specs are actually stricter than just G48 or G40, so its best to stick with the coolant that has the correct mercedes spec for your vehicle.
long ago, Mercedes used G05 formula coolant, which is gold. they switched to longer lasting G48 which is blue, 325.0 or 326.0. the newest Mercedes (2015+) use a G40 formula which is pink-violet, 325.6. or 326.6 (325 is concentrate, 326 is ready-mix) the gold and blue are inter-mixable (treat it like the gold after mixing in terms of life), the VIOLET IS NOT MIXIBLE WITH ANYTHING ELSE..
the mercedes specs are actually stricter than just G48 or G40, so its best to stick with the coolant that has the correct mercedes spec for your vehicle.
+1
Xerex G-05 or G-48 will do and both are available from Napa. If it's really only a 1/4" low, then you can just add water...
Why do they keep changing coolant formulation every couple years ?
Once they got the perfect inhibitors, seal lubricant and anti-freeze for aluminum engines... what gives
G48 : blue - previous
G40: pink - newer
G?? : gold/yellow - ?
using the wrong sauce is like a guarantee to chew a hole in the radiator and crumble the pump seal 😆
---Edts: G05 : Yellow - ancient... superseded by G48/Blue
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; 05-24-2021 at 08:58 PM.
Reason: format - G05
Why not just buy the proper spec from your dealer, who should know?
the pic of the bottle above is what the dealer parts dept recommended. But the color on that thing is blue while my existing color is amber/yellow. I was told never to mix colors.
G48 (blue) is 'compatible' with G05 (gold), but a mixture should be treated as though it is G05 in terms of coolant life. (IIRC, G05 is rated 3 years or 30000 miles, while G48 is 5 years, 50000 miles, or something like that).
NEVER MIX ANYTHING OTHER THAN DISTILLED WATER WITH ANY RED OR PINK OR VIOLET COOLANT!
and again, if you're just topping off the overflow bottle, you can just add some distilled water, especially if you live in a milder climate. The standard 2:1 dilution is good for the extreme conditions, but in milder weather you can get away with 3:1 or even 4:1 dilution.
if the wrong coolant was used in a car that should have pink-violet, you should thoroughly flush out the incorrect coolant before filling with the correct, as they are NOT compatible.
Last edited by Left Coast Geek; 05-24-2021 at 03:43 PM.
if the wrong coolant was used in a car that should have pink-violet, you should thoroughly flush out the incorrect coolant before filling with the correct, as they are NOT compatible.
Strange. My build date is August 2013 but the color is amber.
Strange. My build date is August 2013 but the color is amber.
same here: amber/gold/yellow is known as G05
M276 build date SEP-13
my garage consistently smells coolant after driving since new... slow leak.
Now coolant tank is low enough that I am getting motivated to figure out this mess 🤣
same here: amber/gold/yellow
M276 build date in SEP-13
my garage consistently smells coolant after driving since new... slow leak. Now coolant tank is low enough that I am getting motivated to figure out this mess 🤣
have you owned it since new? gold coolant is G05, which Mercedes was using in the late 80s / early 90s (when W124 were new, for instance). I am not sure when they replaced that with the blue G48, the document I referred to above only covers engines and cars as far back as 2011. When they switched to blue, it was specified for all previous Mercedes, too, adn this was about 25 years ago. If your car had gold/g05 in it, I wonder if the previous owner had done a coolant change, after all, its nearly 8 years old now.
external coolant leaks are usually pretty evident, you see crusty stuff around the hose fitting or whatever is leaking. but another source of leaks is a weak head gasket, which can allow a tiny amount of coolant to get into the cylinders, and come out the exhaust as steam. however, when that happens, exhaust gasses also get into the coolant, and there is a test kit for this.
have you owned it since new? gold coolant is G05, which Mercedes was using in the late 80s / early 90s (when W124 were new, for instance). I am not sure when they replaced that with the blue G48, the document I referred to above only covers engines and cars as far back as 2011. When they switched to blue, it was specified for all previous Mercedes, too, adn this was about 25 years ago. If your car had gold/g05 in it, I wonder if the previous owner had done a coolant change, after all, its nearly 8 years old now.
external coolant leaks are usually pretty evident, you see crusty stuff around the hose fitting or whatever is leaking. but another source of leaks is a weak head gasket, which can allow a tiny amount of coolant to get into the cylinders, and come out the exhaust as steam. however, when that happens, exhaust gasses also get into the coolant, and there is a test kit for this.
1st owner, I custom built that car with my options and waited for it about 3months. The coolant circuit has never been worked on during the couple recalls it had (steering rack, pedal sensor,...)
I remember looking at the overflow tank early on and was puzzled already about the odd color.
I resolved to work on the oil leaks and priority maintenance before I chase a slow leak. When it gets worse, it will be obvious to spot. I recall a forum post talking about a hose fitting on some sort of secondary coolant pump (NOT the mayo mixer with oil cooler)
The consensus seems to be Blue is our go to color.
--EDITS:
G05: YLW ... Low-silicate 275ppm, neutral-pH, phosphate-free 30ppm. Specifically with Nitrates - PDF Ref.
Strange how perception change over the years.
G05 is like 25 or more years old and W210 owners called the color pee,
Now W212 owners call it gold.
It is mixable with blue stuff and G05 was rated for 15 years in W211. It is chem pack build into reservoir who gave it longer life.
same here: amber/gold/yellow is known as G05
M276 build date SEP-13
my garage consistently smells coolant after driving since new... slow leak.
Now coolant tank is low enough that I am getting motivated to figure out this mess 🤣
Interesting, my '12 and '13 have blue. '13 has been changed, but it was blue originally. You can use Gold, but it is not for extended use without the chem-pack { phosphates} in the overflow.
Last edited by pierrejoliat; 05-25-2021 at 04:17 PM.
I am going to go ahead and drain my cooling system at the radiator.
Now wondering how many G48 gallons should that require??
2 or 3 gallons of ready-mix ( without doing a 2x flush because it is 100% compatible with G05)
My experience with aftermarket parts tells me to mostly trust the OEM fluids with my own cars.
Zerex compatible coolants are not exactly worth saving 4 peanuts to waste a water pump, radiator, thermostat and heater core 🙂
I made the coolant exchange easy job.
Buy 8 gallons of Distillate Water at Walmart, drain coolant by radiator drain valve, refill with DW and drive for at least 10 miles with it. Drain, refill with DW and drive again. Repeat till you are comfortable with color of drained fluid.
Than drain, put 1 gallon of coolant and top off with DW. Keep extra DW in the trunk as after getting the engine to 80C, the thermostat will open and then you have to top it off again.
This system gives me about 45% of coolant ratio, but I don't drive in freezing temperatures, so that is perfectly good for me.
For freezing weather you can calculate how much coolant your system takes to get recommended 50%.
Than again, our cars have 15 years coolant life. We should not go there yet.
When any of you need to drain radiator fluid by removing the big hose at water pump suction or at thermostat, do note how to properly "handle" that unique locking clip. Do not remove it from the hose, only slight pull up.
See attachment.
Yes, I pulled it out and ended up needing to buy a new one/s.... LOL.
Once pulled out, it has a high chance of never going to be as proper in term of the U shape and hence tension, as it should be.
Also another warning, specific to the depth of the hose metallic end insertion to water pump suction port, based on my M276 3.0 Turbo which maybe similar to M276 3.5 NA, the insertion is deeper than the hose at the thermostat. So becareful and make sure the hose end goes deep and clicked.
See below, the metal hose end at water pump suction will completely disappear.
The thermostat hose is the right side photo. The metallic hose end is still visible. Left side photo is the water pump, red color notes.
05-23-2021, 05:41 PM
