Hi,
I have a 1994 3000 sl. It seems like if one thing goes wrong with this car, then everything soon follows. I can't even begin to guess at how much money i've put into this car. Now, I'm wanting to learn how to try to fix some things on it myself.

The car is in bad need of a coolant flush. I bought a "universal" flushing system at the store, but I can't figure out how to hook it up on a 3000. Can anyone direct me on where the tubes are, or how to go about hooking one up? Thanks for everyone's time.

How do you know it needs a flush? I've never seen a flush kit before so I don't know what the connections are that you need to connect. When you flush the coolant, you're basically getting rid of the old junk by running water or water and some kind of cleaning additive through the system w/ the engine running. Fresh water goes in through the coolant filler tube and drains through the drain plug. The drain plug is hard to see because it is located at the bottom right of the radiator as you're facing the vehicle, under the right side of the cooling fan, next to the AC compressor. The drain plug is a little plastic butterfly screw plug; you can feel it. Once the system runs for about five minutes, shut off the engine and water. Let the remaining water drain out then screw the drain plug back in. Now fill up the reservoir with 50/50 coolant, turn on the engine and continue filling 'till it tops off. That's it. That's what I do. If you do this, just make sure to bring the old coolant to someone authorized to dispose of it since it's considered hazardous to the environment. I would also put someone in the car to watch the heat guage and make sure it doesn't overheat.

Thanks for the info. I know it needs a coolant flush because the guy at the dealership said it needed one badly. They quoted me prices of about 200.00 per flush and they wanted to do one for the coolant and the power stearing.

The dealer said that you needed something badly? really, do tell.

and let me guess, it was not gonna be free, either.

If the coolant is that bad, there is a pet-c ock (website won't let you type **** :P ) on the bottom of the radiator. open it out and drain the fluid. next, pull the lower radiator hose off. drain remains. next, re-fill coolant.

Start engine, let it idle for 15~20 minutes to "burp" the system. check coolant level often.

make sure the over-flow is full.

then go for a short ride. watch your engine temp. also re-check coolant level after your short ride.


btw,
Is your engine running hot? Can you see the coolant is dirty? Do you need to simply add a bit of anti-freeze to get it back in spec? (add at proper mixture ratio, verify with tester, simple tool with a few balls that float or sink) If your coolant is fine, I'd tell the dealer to pound sand. but that's just me.

EDIT:

Also, you need to fill the coolant in two locations. one is on the passenger side of the engine, right between the cylinder V's by where the plenum heads into the heads.

The other is the overflow container. you should have some in there incase it wants to suck some extra in while the motor is "burping" itself.