It woulda been fine because inside an igloo it's always around 32 F or 0 C.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Last winter we had a cold spell where it was -20sF. I think I remember seeing -31 or -32C on my temp gauge in the SD while I was driving. So far this year it has been tropical...the coldest yesterday morning at -5F.

I block my radiator when it gets to about 15F or lower on a regular basis.

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2009 ML320 Bluetec
1985 300CD
1981 300TD

Past Mercedes
1979 300TD
1982 300TD
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1998 E430
1984 300SD
1980 300SD

Why, just last week I had to start the coupe in 58 degrees

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81 Mercedes 300SD 289k.......SOLD
82 Mercedes 300CD 252k......slow ride

82 mercedes 300 SD...mi Unknown
83 Mercedes 300D ????ksniff..gone too
84 Mercedes 300D 148k........SOLD
85 Mercedes 300TD 386k and holding some one elses project

Coldest start so far was 11F a few days ago. No block heater and it started right up.. but that's not really that extreme.

Extreme is when you blow up the car battery trying to start the car.

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'83 300DTurbo http://badges.fuelly.com/images/smallsig-us/318559.png

Broadband: more lies faster.

Has anyone tried an auxiliary electric fuel heater that goes on with the GPs and stays on til the engine warms up? Like heater wires on the hard lines and around the ip?

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1983 240D 3.0T 4-speed manual, now sold

1989 Subaru GL Wagon 5-speed Touring Edition

-58 below zero in the 85 300SD, wind chill was almost -90 below zero. I had mixed gasoline with #1 diesel to keep it from jelling. I ended up having to start the 240D the other day when it was about -11 below with no block heater and no other heating aids other than brand new glow plugs, it almost didn't start and I thought for sure I was going to fry the starter and battery from cranking for so long but it eventually took off. The worst time starting I have ever had was actually in my gas 560SEL, I was invited ice fishing with a friend for a day and after driving the 560 out to the middle of the lake made the mistake of shutting it off and letting it sit there for the day. It was around -40 below zero with bad wind chills and when I went to start it at the end of the day it wouldn't even turn over a complete revolution. We ended up tow starting it with my friends diesel Excursion which he had left running all day.

cold.

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'98 E300 turbodiesel

I've never driven extended distances in weather that cold. I once had to walk in -40 temps for about 40 minutes, and almost lost my toes! That Yukon Jack did not work nearly as well as I expected.

(I was in the great white north too, near Montreal.)

I would think Canadians would be Lobbying FOR global warming.

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1979 240D, 4spd manual, Power Sunroof, manual windows, 147k miles, Pastel gray/Black MB Tex.
1991 300D 2.5 - Smokes like it's on Crack!

With enough Whale blubber lamps burning it can get well above freezing. I remember this from a film I saw in school when I was 11. At one point the temp went over 50F and the mother complained that it was too warm. She started uncovering the Eskimo baby. I remember the teacher explaining that because snow is well insulating and the outside temps were so cold, that there was no risk of melting. Of course, come spring, the whole house melts.

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1979 240D, 4spd manual, Power Sunroof, manual windows, 147k miles, Pastel gray/Black MB Tex.
1991 300D 2.5 - Smokes like it's on Crack!

Where do you live???? Yakusks Siberia Russia????

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1993 Mercedes 300D 2.5

1987 Mercedes 300D 3.0

2000 Volkswagen JETTA TDI diesel 5 speed

2002 Lexus ES300

2006 Lexus GS430

Thats what I was thinking!

If it got that cold around here I would be on the next plane out of JFK to somewhere warm.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

The coldest natural temperature ever recorded on Earth was −89.2 °C (−129 °F; 184 K) at the Russian Vostok Station in Antarctica July 21, 1983.[1] Lower temperatures have been achieved artificially, including a record cold temperature of 100 pK, or 1.0 × 10-10 K in 1999.[2]


I looked it up and was surprised by how cold North Dakota gets. must be in just the right place for the natural cold weather path. I have only once been briefly across the border for a few hours. I was in Bowbells ND. U.S.A long time ago in the summer. Actually also to my surprise there are several states that can get pretty cold at times and not just the Northern states. I guess I should get out more. It got to -51C with the windchill last week here, but finally letting up a bit. The strange thing is that they are now calling for above freezing at the end of the week. Our weather over the past few years is getting very strange. I wonder if on a larger scale like the scale of how big planet earth is, there would be a blast of cold air coming off the melting glaciers they keep talking about followed by floods of course and then very dry with global warming.

coldest it's ever gotten when i ever drove any benz: about 40F (positive, not negative)

heh

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This year it hasn't hit -40 yet, but starts at -35C. It starts happier when block heater plugged in even for 1/2 hour. I use 15w40 dino oil.

I found the best way to block the radiator is to cut a perfect radiator sized piece of cardboard and unclip the rad, tip it back, and slide the cardboard down the front of it. Then clip the rad back. Takes 2 minutes. Perfectly blocked.

I also block the oil cooler rad with a small piece of cardboard jambed up under the bumper on that side.

I also use, yes, big chunks of quilt batting / stuffing poked around the top of the engine so air does not flow over the top of the injectors, and around the fuel pump. The batting is so puffy it meets the hood liner when its closed. Engine cozy anyone? Just keep it away from the fan belt.

I read the other day, hot weather is actually harder on batteries than cold. In the summer you do the damage to the battery and in the fall / winter the cold crankcase puts a maximum demand on the battery so it is seen to fail at that point in time, but the damage was already done. Batteries work fine cold, so long as they are not frozen, then they don't work very well at all.

Below -40 all season tires take time to round out the flat spot from having parked.

At -50 hitting a pot hole with a cold tire can shatter it.

At -60 if you pee outside it freezes mid-air with a crackle and pop sound before hitting the ground.

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Cheers!
Scott McPhee

1987 300D

Wait...you cold start your car at -35C with 15w40 oil?

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2009 ML320 Bluetec
1985 300CD
1981 300TD

Past Mercedes
1979 300TD
1982 300TD
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1998 E430
1984 300SD
1980 300SD