Let's say if it's really cold out and you do not have access to a block heater? I don't need to, I'm more curious.

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

1989 Subaru GL Wagon 5-speed Touring Edition

No, but I once got up in the middle of the night to take a drive at a hotel when it was sub-zero and I didn't have a place to plug in.

yup.

Powering my house with the MB

When I was a kid, the local real estate agent had a 300TD that he basically ran from November to March. No real crime to speak of in rural Maine at that time, so no worries. Now, I wouldn't.

a friend from alaska told me the semi trucks over there they leave running 24-7

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1962 220S
1966 200 Diesel
1981 300TD Wagon
1984 500SL
1989 560SEC Euro

Lol. I've done basically the same thing. Drove my 300td from sunny so cal to my friend's cabin up by Lake Arrowhead one winter and ended up getting snowed in without power on the second day. Ran an extension cord from my car's inverter to the house and plugged in the tv, DVD player,and some lights. We watched movies while huddled around the fireplace for warmth. Car idled for 11 hours to no ill effect (though the oil stain in the driveway wasn't too pretty, lol). I think it drank 6gallons of fuel during that time.

__________________
'81 300TD Wagon 355k (Miss Diesel)
'83 300SD 180k
'84 500SEL 190k (Parting it out)

Yes you can leave it running all night.

The risks are:

- things going wrong that if attended would not be a disaster, but unattended... broken belt or hose, low on any of the vital fluids.

- in really cold weather, idle speed is not enough to keep the engine up to temp so you get more fuel by the rings into the crankcase, figure out a way to increase the idle speed and then change your oil at 1/2 your normal interval

- never do this on WVO for the reason stated above

__________________
Greg
2012 S350 BlueTEC 4Matic
2007 ML 320 CDI
2007 Leisure Travel Serenity
2006 Sprinter 432k
2005 E320 CDI
1998 SLK230 (teal)
1998 SLK230 (silver)
1996 E300D 99k, 30k on WVO
Previous:
1983 240D, on WVO
1982 300D, on WVO
1983 300CD, on WVO
1986 300SDL 237k, 25k on WVO (Deerslayer)
1991 350SDL 249k, 56k on WVO - Retired to a car spa in Phoenix
1983 380 SEC w/603 diesel, 8k on WVO
1996 E300D 351k, 177k on WVO

My friend and mechanical guru Steve tells this story concerning my 81 240d when the PO still owned it.
Seems the PO called Steve one evening to say that the car wouldn't shut off and could he come over and take a look at it to see if he can fix it.
He gets over there a bit later and sure enough he finds the car idling in the drive. He asked the PO when this happened and the PO replied...
a week ago! LOL
Steve can't remember how he stopped it, being unaware of MB vacuum systems ; but he managed it somehow.
This was many years ago and the car is none the worse for it.

__________________
1981 240D 143k 4 spd manual -SOLD

2004 VW Jetta TDI 5 speed 300k -still driven daily

We regularly run diesel pumps for weeks 24/7. No probs. We have driven from one side of the country to the other in the old 300D, didnt turn it off, it had a bad starter. It is no big deal to run a motor continuous.

__________________
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

I recieved the benzproducts.com dvd on rebuilding injectors for christmas, and in it he mentions that though normal pop pressure for injectors is around 135 bar, he said that mercedes used the same diesel engines in forklifts and other equipment which was expected to see long periods of idling, and that the same injectors were set to 170 bar to compensate for the coking effects of long idle periods.

(btw, the dvd is very amatureish. I'd recommend against it in favor of spending a few hours reading the forums.)

EXTRA, in the pre-chambers.
Diesel Purge and a Hard run of about 8 Hours straight (Above 3500 RPM) will
help clean it out.

ACTUALLY, These engines are not designed to be left @ Idle for LONG periods
for all the reasons mentioned in the above posts.
[The 616/617 series will probably suffer the least damage.A lot of 616 s were
put into service as "Reefer" engines and on GenSets...BUT those were "Loaded"
running situations,Not @ Idle.]

I wouldn't try it as a regular "Trick" with anything Newer.
(601/602/603/ or 604/605/606)

__________________
'84 300SD sold
124.128

How long is it safe to Run a diesel without turning it off ?
How long is it safe to Run a diesel without turning it off ?





Have a great day.

__________________
ASE Master Mechanic
asemastermechanic@juno.com

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
HV-A/C Climate Control.
Vehicle build.
Fleet Durability
Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

1985 300SD
1983 300D
1984 190D
2003 Volvo V70
2002 Honda Civic

https://www.boldegoist.com/

I'd invest in a block heater. Its a waste of fuel and engine-life to run it so long for no reason. I haven't used my block heater yet this year....and it has been 5-10F several times. This morning it was about 16F....fired right up no problem. Just crossed 287k today!

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

it got down to -17 thursday morning so I left my engine running all night long since i don't have a blockheater. no reason it won't work, just give er a good italian tuneup the next day to burn out the carbon!

and see will that get you started the next time. Just make sure you don't burn any rubber parts.

BenzDiesel