06 320 cdi waterless coolant

[Loghauler98]

I have a 06 320 cdi has a little over 150,000 miles on it my understanding is its time to change coolant and recharge the coolant additive.Can I run waterless coolant without the additive without harming the engine?

 

[oilman]

Why do you want to use waterless coolants?

 

[Doug1234]

I looked into waterless coolant when running a moto x bike years ago, they are good and your engine will not obviously boil over and they are exceptional in freezing conditions.
But there is a catch the cost is quite high and if your engine overheats it will not boil over in a cloud of steam you can see so unless you keep an eye on gauges or the car warns you you are none the wiser and then its up to your engine oil to reign in the heat which it eventually cannot do and the oil starts to fume and engines then dead in short order. Thats worst scenario , but this is why its mainly used in race /track engines.

 

[mioba]

MB coolant is due to be changed every 15 years.
Give the system a good flush and change the stat at the same time.

Normal coolant has stood the test of time, so use whats recommended - it hasnt harmed the engine yet

 

[LostKiwi]

Waterless coolant is a nice idea but is less efficient at cooling than normal coolant and is expensive, especially if you need to work on the coolant system (such as stripping the top of the engine to get to the inevitable oil cooler leak)

I wouldn't bother.

 

[Loghauler98]

I looked into waterless coolant when running a moto x bike years ago, they are good and your engine will not obviously boil over and they are exceptional in freezing conditions.
But there is a catch the cost is quite high and if your engine overheats it will not boil over in a cloud of steam you can see so unless you keep an eye on gauges or the car warns you you are none the wiser and then its up to your engine oil to reign in the heat which it eventually cannot do and the oil starts to fume and engines then dead in short order. Thats worst scenario , but this is why its mainly used in race /track engines.

 

[Loghauler98]

I was worried about cavitation

Why do you want to use waterless coolants?

In a diesel you have to keep a additive in the coolant prevents cavitation that eats holes in the cylinder liners with waterless coolant you don't have this problem its used in big diesel engines

 

[Loghauler98]

Waterless coolant is a nice idea but is less efficient at cooling than normal coolant and is expensive, especially if you need to work on the coolant system (such as stripping the top of the engine to get to the inevitable oil cooler leak)

I wouldn't bother.

It is more expensive didn't know it wasn't as good at dissipating heat

 

[Loghauler98]

MB coolant is due to be changed every 15 years.
Give the system a good flush and change the stat at the same time.

Normal coolant has stood the test of time, so use whats recommended - it hasnt harmed the engine yet

True why fix something that isn't broken

 

[mioba]

Mercedes use a cleaner in the system when flushing the coolant. It removes scale which causes the pitting.
That said a good clean, backflush and using distilled/delonised water should not cause any problems when refilling.

 

[LostKiwi]

Mercedes use a cleaner in the system when flushing the coolant. It removes scale which causes the pitting.
That said a good clean, backflush and using distilled/delonised water should not cause any problems when refilling.

Don't use deionised water - it's more corrosive than distilled water.

 

[ernieh]

Don't use deionised water - it's more corrosive than distilled water.

How would you justify that statement to a chemist....or anybody else for that matter?

Ernie

 

[mioba]

I am a Chemist by education but now a lawyer.

I actually questioned LK comments initially in my head, but if you distill water, all the minerals etc are left behind. Thus distilled water is also demineralised/deionised water and infact better.

From a purist POV, of course its the minerals that do the damage (clinging onto metal) so onewould say demineralised/deionised is best, but logically distilled is better as its not only super pure but also demineralised.

So I am with LK and the comment is justified

Any auto factors will have posh water.

 

[LostKiwi]

Deionised water absorbs CO2 out of the atmosphere more readily than distilled water. CO2 in water makes the water acidic hence more corrosive.

Can I Use Deionised Water Instead of Distilled Water?

Deionised water and distilled water have both been purified, but does that mean you can use deionised water instead of distilled water?

www.chemicals.co.uk

Section 2 - Automotive applications.