I bought my 1990 300d in May,,,,the car has been in Delaware and New York for most of its life,,,,there isn't a block heater,,,I'm on Prince Edward Island, Canada,,,I may not drive the car during the winter but if I do will I need to install a heater<
Thanks in advance,,

MH

I recommend you double check whether the car has a block heater. Most do, but they did not install the power cord for it. Have a look at this thread and double check your car.

Let's Wire Up the Block Heater!

You might be lucky. Otherwise, you're headed to a shop or a dealer unless you're fairly handy.

Rgds,
Chris W.
'95 E300D

I just had a block heater put in yesterday. I had the heater in hand and they put it in for me. $150 and a few hours later I rattle my way home.

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Considering the aggrivation factor that wasn't a bad deal....

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

that depends a lot on overall condition of the powerplant and your tolerance for an occasional inconvenience. I definitely needed a heater some years ago but have since rebuilt my engine. Last winter it always started reliably without use of a block heater down to the lowest temperatures we experience here - about -20C. And my battery is 5 years old.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

Yeah I thought I did pretty well. I will go back to them they seemed like a good shop. The total was really $166.00 for a block heater install and a coolant change.

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Anyone ever installed a factory block heater in a 1985 300D Turbo California car?

My mechanic just looked at the job and shook his head. Since it's a California car, the turbo sits low and there's that damned trap. The wrench said that he had to use a mirror just to see the freeze plug that's gotta come out. He opined that it would cost a lot of bucks to R&R everything that needs to come out of the way, not counting anything brittle that breaks during the operation on this 21 year old car. Even then, the freeze plug might not come out, so it would all be for naught.

Consequently, Diesel Giant's lower radiator hose kit looks better and better and I can do the work myself. Anyone interested in buying my factory heater with power cord, new in original box, can PM me.

Jeremy in Santa Rosa, California

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

My for-sale block heater is listed in the "parts for sale" section of this forum. If no one wants it, I'll put it on eBay.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

I also have a factory block heater & cord (freeze plug style) in the package never used, bought it on fastlane 2 years ago but then I got the lower-hose kind instead. Anyone can buy it from me $40 shipped (great deal) (over $20 off the original price)

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Be careful, the '90 diesel uses a different block heater, the heater sticks out into the block in the 617 engines and its folded over and doesn't protrude in the 603 (later) engines. Plus, the cables are NOT the same between the old style and the new style heaters.

See the differences. The left one is w/ round plug is used with the later block heaters, the right one is the rectangular one for the earlier style.
FWIW, I have a new late style block heater if some one needs it $20, no cord (I bought it for the cord!).

Attached Thumbnails

   

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Yeah I have the one that fits the 617/616 engine, if anyone wants to buy it from me just send me a PM...

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

If it's for the 617, it's mine.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

fsdfs

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1983 Euro 240D 277K
2016 Mazda 6
Coming Soon, 2013 Mercedes E350 Bluetec
Formers:
2012- Mazda 3
2007 Outlander- complete pile
1995 E300 Diesel 208K
2007 VW Passat 2.0T 63K SOLD
2003 Jaguar X-type 3.0 Sport Sold 04/11 w/88K
2009 Lexus RX350 9061 miles. Sold 04/09
2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS:Totaled Sept.,09 @ 24,000
2003 Infiniti I35 58K Sold
1984 300 turbo diesel 222K