Yeah I read about that part too, but I remember a press release in which Toyota blamed that problem on incorrect break in procedures.

Maybe I haven't had that problem with my Avalon because it, like all my other cars, runs on 100% Synthetic Amsoil fluids bumper to bumper.

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1999 Mercedes-Benz S600, 103K miles - garage queen
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL, 89K miles - daily driver
2007 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 31K - daily driver

How is using remote start when it is cold out bad for the engine? I prefer to let it warm up for ten minutes when it is real cold out so their is a little temp showing on the guage.

I think most of the problems you hear about diesel's not starting is improper maintaince or low compression.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Very well put. I love the way you put your words there.

Indeed, one afternoon while speaking to some old folks who wanted to buy my 300SD for $6,000 (an offer I refused because if I sold it then I'd have to start looking for one in as good condition and I may have no luck in doing so... I checked online and found none), they explained clearly to me that back in 1980, a fully loaded Cadillac Deville sedan cost just $13,000, with power everything, a huge pushrod V8 engine, full size interior and exterior amenities, full leather seating surfaces, etc. Then a skeletal 300D with a manual transmission, hand crank windows, no sunroof, a 55 horsepower engine, MB-Tex seating surfaces and manual air conditioning cost $16,000. A loaded 380SEL back then would then cost about $45,000. That's three times the price of the equivalent Cadillac. There were 50 Cadillacs sold for every Mercedes-Benz sold.

But today, that gap in pricing doesn't exist anymore. Three times the price of the equivalent Cadillac should see the C-Class sell for a starting price of $90,000 while the CTS sells for $30,000, as prices of Cadillacs haven't gone up much over the years. MB prices have gone down sharply as quality gave in to reduce the price gap. Reason? Well, MB decided to take on a new strategy starting in 1994, with the "cheapening" of the entire brand lineup. An excellent illustration was the sharp decline in the starting price of the flagship W140 from 1994 to 1995, while standard equipment levels increased and the German currency gained even more power against the US Dollar (normally when this happens, prices of the cars should go up in order to maintain profit levels). It seems the company decided to increase sales as much as possible while making lower quality (but still good) products. The company had to do this because new luxury brands like Lexus, Acura and Infiniti were killing their business.

The nightmare that MB faced when Lexus arrived was enormous. Here was a luxury brand that just started from the company with the best reputation for reliability and the best, most efficient vehicle manufacturing system on earth. I remember reading a survey in which it was stated that Lexus manufacturing is so much more efficient than that of MB that n 1992 if Lexus manufactured a vehicle for $30,000 it would cost MB $36,000 to manufacture the same vehicle (no profit included, currencies, labor rates, parts rates held constant). Even the debut Lexus, the LS400, under cut its equivalent MB (420SEL) in price by almost $16,000 while offering a product that was better in every aspect: much more powerful engine, better fuel efficiency, higher top speed, better refinement, lower NVH. That made MB lose a lot of its customers who didn't quite mind exchanging the prestige of the three pointed star for $16,000 in their pockets to Lexus. Also Lexus dealers were generally known to offer much better customer service than MB dealers, and so this attracted more MB customers for them.

So what we have now is a company that had obsessive over-engineering watered down by the cruel market place. Competition is good as it gives consumers great products/services at awesome prices. MB has suffered severly at the hand of the Japanese automakers. All of a sudden the old MB system of over-engineering was no longer going to be profitable. The company had to change in order to survive, or at least that's what the board of directors thought. I believe they could have continued to make cars like they always did and sell them for very high prices. They wouldn't be able to sell much, but they'd sell a few to people who appreciate superb engineering and they could still be profitable. Then again, that wouldn't keep the company financial records looking sweet to shareholders. Oh well.

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1999 Mercedes-Benz S600, 103K miles - garage queen
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL, 89K miles - daily driver
2007 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 31K - daily driver

An idling motor never gets the oil hot enough.
Ten minutes of idling allows condensation and then the quick breakdown of the oil's additive package.
Relacing the oil is the only solution and waiting untill 7,000 miles puts it way way over the top.

__________________

79 240D my current toy
42 years a Diesel addict

240D sold
250SE sold
220D sold
280C sold
280S sold
300D (2) sold
300CD sold
300DT sold
300SD sold
380SL sold

It get's the oil hot enough to circulate and lubricate the bearings better than 0 degree oil.

Good point, most people don't drive enough to burn off the crap that builds up in their oil.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

This is the 'more is better' mentality again. Warm oil circulates better but does warm oil lubricate better than cold oil? As long as the oil prevents metal to metal contact, you are ready to drive. I think the popularity of remote starters is that the heater works when the driver gets in the car.

braverichard, that last post is powerful stuff, thanks.

My VW TDi has glow plugs in the coolant hose to the heater core. I get heat in 30 seconds. I just start and drive off.
This is all part of the emmisions circuitry. A cold engine is polluting...

__________________

79 240D my current toy
42 years a Diesel addict

240D sold
250SE sold
220D sold
280C sold
280S sold
300D (2) sold
300CD sold
300DT sold
300SD sold
380SL sold

I see Ferrari has not yielded to volume sales and they still make money by selling a few cars....
If MB stayed expensive and over engineered, I bet they could have maintained their position in the market place. Granted the numbers may not have encouraged new investers to dive in.

__________________

79 240D my current toy
42 years a Diesel addict

240D sold
250SE sold
220D sold
280C sold
280S sold
300D (2) sold
300CD sold
300DT sold
300SD sold
380SL sold

Froma technical "remote start" is bad. Best methos is to start the vehicle and gradually drive it. It will give everything else proper time to warm up and function.

__________________
#dieselFLEET
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'97 E300
'99 E300

Interesting, but oil seems to get real thick when it is cold out.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

It does and it has a problem flowing or being pumped up to top of the engine when cold. Take a qt of your standard 10w, 15w or 20w non synthetic oil and put it iin the freezer over night at just 0* to 10* F and then try to pour the stuff the next morning you will see it pours like 90w gear oil or worse. Have a qt of 5w-40 synthetic Mobil 1 Truck & SUV oil in the same freezer at the same time and watch the difference in the way it pours. Then put it in a deepfreeze at say 10 below zero and most conventional oil will no longer flow at enough speed to be considered flowing in the automotive world.

Another neat test is dip the shaft of two screwdrivers in the two oils and let them hang shaft down over night, then feel the difference. Check the conventional oil dipped screwdriver first, then the synthetic oil dipped one next. You won't believe the difference.

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'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

I have been toying with the idea of the freezer test for awhile. Maybe this week I will try a Delo 15w-40 vs Delvac 1 5w-40 test.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

... ...

__________________
#dieselFLEET
---------------
'97 E300
'99 E300

I did these test back in the late seventies and really amazed some of my friends. I used 5w 20 Mobil 1 and 20w 50 Castrol and my new freezer that temp gage that showed -1 F. The 20w 50 poured about like molasses from a frig and the Mobil 1 poured slower then at 100* but it poured like the 20w at room temp. I've been using Mobil 1 since summer of '77 and have used it in all my cars, trucks, and motercycles since. Never had an engine develop an oil leak or start using oil with it's useage. I even put a '72 Ford Torino 400 V8 with 67,000 miles on the engine on Mobil 1, with no ill effect to 113,000 miles when I sold the car.

__________________
'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

I drove a manual shift Cherokee while we were in Maine one winter. When it got below zero degrees for more than a few hours the thing would not shift gears first thing in the morning. The car would come to a stop while trying to shift. The transmission oil turned to wax. For a while I got around it by putting the transfer case in neutral while sitting in the yard warming up the engine and running the tranny in third for while then shifting through the gears . It stirred up the wax enough that I could shift. Then I changed over to synthetic gear lube. Temperature had no effect on the synthetic gear lube, tranny shifted the same all of the time. The difference was dramatic.