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Joe, After reading some well written posts here on saabnet several years ago, I decided to use the Mercedes coolant in both my '92 straight 9000, and my '98 CSE, and I've been happy with the decision. I got a look at the inside of the cooling galleries of my '98 about 6 months ago when I had the head gasket changed due to a very small oil leak. The inside was perfectly clean with no sign of corrosion. Now, it may be that the reason was due to the coolant, or the relatively low age of the engine, or because I do a complete flush with distilled water, and install new coolant every 2 years. Who knows? In any case I believe the important thing is to use a good coolant, and flush it every 2 years with distilled water. By using the distilled water, you eliminate the possibility of the minerals found in tap water precipitating out and onto the inside of your engine. Just look at the inside of your tea kettle after boiling tap water in it for any length of time. Why would the inside of the engine be any different?
As to your question about how much coolant to use, that depends on how cold a climate you live in. I found that by draining the system with the drain plug at the bottom of the radiator, there is a fair amount of fluid remaining. So, for that reason, I flush the system 3 times with distilled water to insure all the old coolant is gone. At $0.50/gal the whole process will only cost you a few dollars. The past two times I've done this, I've used 5 quarts of coolant, then topped of f with distilled water. I found that gave me protection below minus 20 degree F, which is more than I need. Next time I do a flush, I plan to only use 1 gallon of coolant, which will probably give me all the protection I need here in the Midwestern US. Since MB coolant isn’t available in every little town like the more common coolants, I then make a 50/50 mix of the MB coolant and distilled water to carry with me on long trips just in case I need to replenish the header tank.
I know this post is getting a little long winded, so you can stop reading now, as this may not apply to you, but I do have a little info about the DexCool I gleaned from a discussion board for Chevrolet Impala SS owners. Apparently, the DexCool is ok as a coolant, but not suitable for the long term use as recommended. Quite a few of the owners running aluminum heads on their LT-1 engines had severe corrosion caused by the DexCool. The fix seemed to be more frequent changes, on the order of 2 to 3 years, instead of the recommended 100,000 miles. I ran the DexCool in my LT-1, but not my Saab engines.
posted by 66.215.5...
, Sat, 19 Oct 2002 16:09:52, Sun, 20 Oct 2002 16:40:38
, Sat, 19 Oct 2002 12:19:04
, Fri, 18 Oct 2002 11:37:11
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