Hi Robert Roe

ive only been on this forum a couple of days and it's great.

i can relate to the exact same experience.

i frequent the clarion pa. area and have had a cord sticking out the motel window many nights.

ricali

Hey Ricali, don't they have any outdoor outlets at your hotel?

I've been tempted a couple times to tap into various sources of "free" power, from lighting circuits, etc, etc. but these days this could get one arrested, or at least detained and questioned. "What do you mean your car has to be plugged in?" etc... still, a couple of Radio Shack heavy duty jumpers and a VOM would be all you'd need. Hot gloves optional...

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Bob Roe
Lehigh Valley PA USA
1973 Olds 88, 1972 MB 280SE, 1978 Datsun 280Z, 1971 Ford T-Bird, 1972 Olds 88, 1983 Nissan Sentra, 1985 Sentra, 1973 230.6, 1990 Acura Integra, 1991 Volvo 940GLE wagon, 1983 300SD, 1984 300SD, 1995 Subaru Legacy L wagon, 2002 Mountaineer, 1991 300TE wagon, 2008 Murano, 2007 R320CDI 4Matic 52K, some Hyundai, 2008 BMW 535xi wagon, all gone... currently
2007 Honda Odyssey Touring, 2014 E350 4matic

Greetings,

Sorry I put a dim light on your experience with diesels, but the key to me has been a strong battery, cycling the glow plugs twice before attempting to start and continuing to crank the engine until it fires off, (generally less than 20 seconds of cranking) but the book says 60 seconds will not have an adverse affect on the starter. Generally if you don't get fire on the first round you'll run down the battery too much to start again, when it's cold out. I'd also ensure before we get into Winter that the battery is good, glow plugs all work and all filter have been changed.

Charles

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"Tell me and I will listen, Teach me and I will learn, Show me and I will accomplish, Involve me and I will succeed."
'84 300SD 256,000 Gold on Brown (Mileage Award)
'86 300E 246,000 Blue on Tan

you all crack me up! i, luckily don't have to worry about any of that stuff though, living in Florida and all. i think my car does actually have a block heater though, it has some sort of a power cord in the engine compartment, if she goes up to atlanta this thanksgiving we may need to find out if it works! depending on weather of course. Just out of curiosity, what do big diesel trucks(semi's) do in the winter to avoid getting stranded? many times where they put up for the night is far away from any a/c outlet!
R

A lot of those trucks that you see parked along highway on-ramps and in truck stops are left running overnight.

I live in lower NY and have started my car in 20 degree weather with only a few seconds of cranking (maybe 3 or 4) without ever touching the block heater (yes, it's never ever been used). I think you guys out there with similar weather and healthy cars probably also won't need that heater either. I say if it's not absolutely necessary, it's not worth the huge energy drain.

Alex

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1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

The extra advantages of using a block heater when temperatures are below freezing or at least very cold are: (1) engine is warm and heavier oils 15W-X will lubricate quicker, (2) Heater/Defroster comes on at temperature, a whole lot quicker, making for creature comfort. Just my $.02! Roger

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Roger
1983 300CD 246k sold
1998 C230 52k
1980 450SL 75k needs AC
1999 Subaru Outback Ltd 43k

Yes, in really cold weather the warm oil makes a huge difference in cold start wear.

Have a great day,

Is the block heater supposed to make a noise when you plug it in? I plugged mine in the other day for the first time and heard a faint "hissing" noise. Just wondering.

Although my '75 300D had a block heater, I could not always plug it in on the coldest nights. I have been able to start my car up in the morning with the temperature as cold as -10 to -20 degrees (that's BELOW zero) farenheit!

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Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

That was WITHOUT the block heatet plugged in!

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Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

Although my '75 300D had a block heater, I could not always plug it in on the coldest nights. I have been able to start my car up in the morning with the temperature as cold as -10 to -20 degrees (that's BELOW zero) farenheit!

__________________
Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

'83 240D in suburban Maryland, where it sleeps outdoors on some very cold nights. One trick another owner showed me was to let the glow plugs heat up three times before trying to kick over the engine...this helps to vaporize/heat up the combustion chambers and give the car a head start. Also using good diesel fuel with a cetane rating of 50 or above helps, and one approach has been to add one gallon of regular gasoline to each tank fill up of diesel. Hope this helps.

300D 85' started @ -4degF last year, the coldest day of that year, without any help from heaters or a garage (which I have, but the 300D was demoted to an outside car). It was really COOLLDD and I wasn't sure if it would start. The first thing I noticed was that my clock was stopped; which made me think that it was a dead battery; and I later discovered that the clock was FROZEN. I think that says a lot about MB, as our other outside car, a gasoline powered Chrysler, couldn't. Ha Ha Ha.
To start it I just followed the owners manual recomendations: Let it glow for its 90sec and then floor it when(if) it cranks. Started right up with no problems, however I noticed that the starter speed and sound was different. I love MB batteries.

Dr. D

Many of the cold start suggestions list on this forum will help! However, they really should be used in an emergency. Only in situations, when the wear on your engine is less important than getting the ol' diesel started. My suggestion would be to plug it in (if you can) under all cold conditions . Roger's $.02

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Roger
1983 300CD 246k sold
1998 C230 52k
1980 450SL 75k needs AC
1999 Subaru Outback Ltd 43k