Remember - he's talking about a Dodge Cummins pickup, not an MB diesel. Different arrangement as far as the way the thermostat and cooling system are set up.

My '87 MB has no problem getting up to temp quickly in the teens and 20's. But the 05 Jeep CRD, with a different flow and thermostat arrangement, takes several miles to get up to temp - this with a similar HP and dispalcement engine in a 4300 lb brick. Coming back from Texas last New Years with temps in the teens at night, I pulled over to a rest area for a few minutes to make a phone call. Sitting for 5 minutes idling, I watched the temp gauge go from mid scale down to 1/4 scale.

I did the same thing on the Jeep - blocked off all but two of the seven grille openings, to help keep the engine up to temp. On a Dodge Cummins, I'd say it would be worth a try - start off conservative, say about 1/3 to 1/2 the grille area, and adjust from there.

It seems the cooling systems on MB's are arranged to keep a certain minimum amount of heat in, while other diesels are set up to get the maximum amount of heat out.

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Just say "NO" to Ethanol - Drive Diesel

Mitchell Oates
Mooresville, NC
'87 300D 212K miles
'87 300D 151K miles - R.I.P. 12/08
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD 67K miles
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club

Same here down to single-digit F.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

So to use or not to use a winter cover o the Benz ?

I use one on my 02 dodge cummins and it does not seem to bother the truck at all I block off the entire front grille and since the truck is 4x4 it still gets lots of air from the lower bumper vents and under motor

I may look into making a nice grille insert for the benz

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2003 GX470
1998 E300 3.0TD
2002 Dodge 2500 4x4 cummins
1998 Dodge 3500 5 speed Cummins

Why bother? In NJ you're not going to see significant cold...
It was 4F this morning when I left for work. The block heater had been on all night so the windshield was mostly clear when I came out. The car started right up and I had heat by the time I got across town. If the sunroof liner was in (stupid sunroof) I'd have been super comfy. As it was I kept getting a cold breeze down my neck...
I stuffed a towel into the space between the headliner and the sunroof at lunch, hopefully that'll keep my neck warm on the way home.

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Sadly Benz-less

Used a radiator "shutter" on my K-1500 TD Blazer so it would warm up faster when I hit the road. Cardboard is fine for experimenting but it turns to mush when wet and pounded by slush. Found a sheet of white plastic used for tub surrounds at a home supply store and cut a section that would fit perfectly in front of the radiator an behind the grill. Even cut a small handle/hole in it so I could pull it out easily. Worked great!

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FRED

Daily Driver: 98 E300TD 199K
Hobby Car: 69 Austin Mini
Past Diesels: 84 300SD, 312K
87 300SDL, 251K
94 Chev. K-1500 6.5Ltr.TD, 373K

I have an 89 Dodge with the cummins, and have not had trouble with it getting up to tempeture, at least down into the low teens. I would check the thermostat first, then think about blocking the grill. I do a lot of heavy towing with mine so have a direct drive fan(no clutch), vents in the hood and no underhood insulation, and it still comes up to temp ok, even without a trailer. It will take about 10 miles to get there, to about 160-170.