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Shes gettin hot

Started by ColMustard, 28 May 2011, 06:38 PM

ColMustard

Thank you all :D. Wouldnt you know it? Nobody cleans radiators any longer, well I found one Performance Radiator. basically, it would cost more to have them boil it out than to just buy a new one. They quoted me 208 dollars for a new rad. Not a bad deal. The weathers turned cold again here in seattle, go figure. So the car is running within acceptible limits again. Great. My work is a 15 minute drive, so ive got a little time to save money to get a new radiator. Ive already done a flush, I think. Im gonna go ahead and do another one next weekend. Whete might one pick up this citric acid? Will swap to mb coolant as well. Running the green stuff.

1980sdga

I'd go for the new radiator.  I'm a little scared of the citric flush. Just me, I have no experience to back it up...

Squiggle Dog

#17
I went to Performance Radiator once for a pressure test. Of course, they told me the radiator was leaking and needed to be recored. They quoted me a minimum of $500 to recore it. I asked them about a replacement radiator and they said they had three in stock. So they showed them to me and they were not even close! The salesman said that it had to be the right one because the book says they fit 1977-1985 300-series diesels. I said, "No." They were all for a W123 chassis, not a W116. Then they told me that they don't have anything available for my car. So be careful! They are probably trying to sell you one for a W123 chassis! By the way, I installed the old radiator anyway and it didn't leak a drop!

This past weekend I did a fluid flush and fill on my 1980 300SD. I ordered a couple of new sealing rings and a thermostat.

First I drained the coolant out of the radiator. Then I went to the block and removed the block drain (it's in front of the starter and difficult to reach--I got to it from under the car with the right front raised up and reached around each side of the subframe with a couple of extensions and a 19mm socket).

The coolant that came out was bright neon green. The hoses had a lot of dirt in them as well. I used a brass wire brush and vinegar and baking soda to remove the corrosion from the thermostat housing. I put the drain plugs back in with the old washers, filled with hose water, ran the engine for a bit, then removed the plugs once more. Then, with one plug out at a time, I ran the engine with the hose in the coolant reservoir so it would flush out the old fluid and contaminants.

Once I felt all of the old junk was out of the system I filled it with water then drove around for a while. I drained the water again, did some more flushing with the hose, added a bottle of Zerex Super Cleaner ( http://www.valvoline.com/products/brands/zerex/radiator-treatments/44 ), filled with water, then drove the car for over an hour. Then I got home, drained out the Super Clean, then flushed several times with water until I felt all of the Super Clean was out.

I installed the thermostat, replaced the plastic coolant reservoir with a brass one, replaced the aluminum washer on the engine drain plug, replaced the copper washer on the radiator drain plug, then filled up with a 50/50 mix of Zerex G-05 and distilled water.

I feel a lot better about cleaning the contaminants out of the system and having the proper coolant in there.

By the way, if you decide to use the citrus flush, it is part number 000 989 10 2511 LEMON ACID.
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1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

jbrasile

Squiggle,

Great post on the 300SD radiator service!

Later 123 radiators are plastic/aluminum and not only will they not fit but our 116's came with copper rads that will last almost indefinitely if properly maintained so why settle for plastic?

Again nice job!

Tks,

Joe


1980sdga

Yea, thanks for the write up!  It's on my list along with a hose change.

KenM

Hey guys, I've done the citric acid flush on my 450 se, in the manual it specifies the strength of the solution to use so I ended up just buying a kilo of citric acid in powder form and mix it up in a bucket with warm water. Drain and flush the existing coolant first then put in the mixture as the manaul says. It's quite a lot of flushing which can take some time, I use the blue MB coolant apparently that's the go here, maybe applies to petrol engines more. I did what Squiggle describes to flush, run the car, disconnect the return hose to the coolant resovoir and let it run on the ground, while feeding fresh water in the coolant resovoir. Takes a while though but I was concerned about getting an air lock if I dumped all the coolant completely.

Cheers,