Kinda cool idea! Set you Comfort Control on EC and max Temp and start your car remotely. When the coolant temp reaches warm and there is enough for heat, your car will be warmed up by the time you get in and drive! Keep us posted, I'm curious how this goes!

By the way since your in Spokane, that is where I bought one of my cars with IP damage because the owner was running straight Waste Veggie Oil in winter!! Don't be doin' none of that!

No veggie for me.

iamstuffed, yes it does warm up idling. Takes about 10 minutes @ 30 degrees before its toasty in the car.

I am mostly interested in it for the cars comfort not mine. I like my engines warmed up before I force them to work too hard, and I refuse to sit in a cold car waiting for it to warm up.

__________________
81 300SD daily driver/project
86 420SEL (sold)
85 380SE(in the graveyard)

Why carbon up your Pre-Chambers (And Glow Plugs) with un-necessary idling?

Block Heater? Almost every MB has one.

__________________
'84 300SD sold
124.128

You've got the right idea, but your logic is flawed. The engine will reach operating temperature much faster if you drive it. You are putting MORE wear on the internal engine components by idling it for 10 or 15 minutes cold. The vast majority of engine wear occurs when the oil is cold. By idling it for so long, your forcing it to run with cold oil for a much longer period of time.

ALL vehicle manufacturers recommend against idling to warm up. They all recommend driving the car to warm the engine up since it warms up much faster that way. Starting off on a cold engine of course you need to take it easy, drive gently, don't rev it up past 4000 rpm, etc.

Invest in a block or coolant heater and you won't have this problem at all.

FYI smaller and more modern / efficient diesel engines like the 1.9 liter VW TDI will not even warm up idling!! You can start them in the winter and idle for 15 minutes and the vents will still blow cold! You have to drive it to get any heat into the motor.

__________________
'98 E300 turbodiesel

Here goes the rant!

The reason i use remote start is to get the cabin of the vehicle warm! NOT for the benefit/demise of the engine. I plug the car in on cold nights and start the car 5 min before walking out the door in the morning. 5 min is enough to warm the cabin if i have plugged it in. This is so i don't have to sit in the ****** cold catching a cold or pissing me off in the morning taking a coat on and off while trying to drive down the freeway at 75mph. 5 min of idle time is barely more than sitting at a stop light and is not going to harm the engine or carbon up anything more than normal city driving would do. I drive an hour to work on the highway every day without stopping so it gets plenty of run time after to clean everything up.

So all you negative people can rest assured that i am not harming my engine. Though i am sure, as someone always does, is going to come up with a reason why this is a bad idea. Hence why we love this forum for the different points of view. This works with all my other cars diesel and gas just wonderfully! So if there is anyone that could help with some wiring tips or brands of remote start units that work best with these old cars i would appreciate it

__________________
1987 300D 180k
1985 300SD 330k Helga
1992 300D Lola 269k- Sold
1986 325 coupe Bessie >300k Original engine(ODO Broke) sold
2006 2500HD Druamax Linda- Tows boat and looks pretty in garage thats about it

It would seem that you could use any "diesel" remote and a 12VDC coil 3/2 (three ports, two-way) solenoid valve. Most likely the vacuum connections on the back of the key switch will be permanently removed, and only electrical signals will be used.

I can't imagine why something like V310-12vd from http://www.wincofp.com/ couldn't be made to work; or try the sales counter at your local industrial pneumatics supplier (eg, Air World, Inc). I think the only trick would be finding a wire from the switch that has juice at "run" and "crank" but not at "acc" or "off." Maybe the same wire that feeds the glow relay?

YMMV.

__________________
James Marriott
2003 Buick Regal
1983 300D (228k, frau Auto)
1996 Suburban K2500 (192k, 6.5 turbo diesel/4WD towmaster 10,000)
www.engineeringworks.biz
1987 300SDL junker 170k
1982 300SD junker, 265k

The TDI is so efficient at part throttle that it hardly warms up on its own even when driving. There are three electric heaters in the coolant to warm the cold engine. The number of heaters activated depends on the engine temperature and engine speed - the alternator cannot produce enough current at idle to run all three. But the engine warms up quite quickly while driving, and the electric heaters make a difference.

I don't know what years have them, but our '06 Jetta also has a 1000W electric heater in the climate-control system, to provide interior heat before the engine warms.