I'm in the vicinity of Trenton, NJ...

Single digits this morning... I decided to follow y'alls advice and leave it plugged in overnight... Glad I did! Easy start this morning...

I need advice
 

I just got my mercedes this month. It's a 1985 300TD. I had trouble starting it the first time, and have had no such trouble again until today. It was in the teens F this morning and I tried starting a few times, doing what the manual told me about pressing the pedal and I have had no luck. I tried warming the glow plugs a few times and starting afterwards but that didn't seem to help either.

I'd like to know if I have damaged my car. I've been going out once every hour to try to start it and still have had no luck and I think it is in the 20s outside now.

I don't know anything much about diesels and was told that this would be a good resource to try to figure things out.

I don't have anywhere to plug the car in. Any suggestions on what to do now?

It was like 30F this morning.. My glow light did not come on.(craaap) and my car Turned over after letting it attempt to fire longer than usuall.. Usually it goes immedialty.. this time it tool 3 extra seconds and start up was stumbly.

Go to Diesel Giant's web page. Good write up on how to test the GP system. You may have a few GP's not glowing.

I doubt you'd get away with that here, with temps in the single digits ;)

first, it's unlikely you have damaged the car.
second, this is the BEST resource to figure ANYTHING out about these cars!
Third, do you mean you have no cord on the car to plug in, or you have no place to plug the car into your house/apartment/cardboard box...
John

I have the plug on the car, and actually just found an outlet. I thought there wasn't an outlet for me to plug into. I'm on my way to buy an extension cord now. Just had somebody from my apt complex try to jump the car. It sounded better, but was still unsuccessful. I'll post again with more questions if the plug in doesn't do the trick.

thanks very much.

A good jump start will go a long way.

Cranking speed will improve your odds of success.

Yep, that's what I did... Got an industrial grade 14-gauge grounded extension cord. Like the folks here advised me, leave it plugged in for a few hours. Then perhaps jump the battery, let the thing glow a bit, and try to start. Hope it works out for you!

ZERO degrees when I walked out of the Marriott this morning at 7:00.

A bit concerned about the SD. Never had it below 11F. before.

35 second glow (until the relay dropped).

Turn the key and it's running in 1 second.:) :)

Wouldn't idle on the stop for about 5 minutes, but, I was quite impressed for an engine with 195K on the clock. I'm sure the relatively new valves (15K) certainly helped.

What's that Brian? You live in a Marriott now? ;)

question about plug in
 

I've encountered another problem. Is there some kind of switch or something that you have to flick once you've plugged your car in to warm up? If not then I think my heater is broken or something cause I lifted the hood after a couple of hours and nothing is warm in there.

Are there any fuses or anything that should be checked in a situation like this? Maybe my heater isn't totally broken?

Thanks-
Katie

It's a 1985 300TD in case i didn't mention that before

My SD is the same way... I think the cord is unplugged from the block heater... I will have to crawl under there and see if it's plugged in... what fun!
(if only I had fixed all those oil leaks this summer...)
John

tough morning up north
 

Luckily I work from home!

Kathy,
I am not aware of faulty heaters as being a common problem. Did you try to start it after having plugged it?

I have an identical car. There is no switch, plugging it in turns it on. When you plug it in, if you listen carefully, you can hear a faint ticking at the engine block.

The block heater does not make the engine very warm. A couple hours plugged in should allow you to start your car with one glow cycle. I plugged mine for a couple hours and it started with 5-8 seconds of glow. It ran like it was cold, though.

I tried starting it without the plug this am and three full cycles of glowing (waiting for the relay to click off each time) and no start! We were somewhere around 10F here, with serious wind as well.

What you could do in a no start situation:

Boil up a large quantity of water (or run a hose from a hot water tap in the house) and pour it over the head (injectors especially) and injection pump. A couple gallons worth of hot water has gotten me going.

I also carry one of the portable battery chargers, in case you run your battery down. Sometimes a little extra cranking speed will make a difference.

Maintenance is key-valve clearances, filters, good oil, good battery--to getting these beasts started in the cold. Some say you can start it down to 0F without plugging; most will plug under 20F.

and another thing....
 

just reread your posts, Kathy, and realized you have a new-to-you diesel.

Unless you are sure the battery is new, buy a new one! I adhere to the five year rule, change em at 5, and change em when you buy the car unless you trust the previous owner just put a good one in.

Have someone listen to your starter who can tell you if it sounds slow. They take a thrashing over the years in cold weather or less than regular maintenance. Slow cranking will prevent real cold weather starts.

Another thing some do is run their car for 20-30 mins just before they go to bed if they know the temps are dropping. I've done it and it has helped in the am.