Greeting All,

Rick might be onto something here and I thought I'd just see what the concensus is on this. Seems like there are several folks on this post wondering why their diesels are surging in the morning on a cold start I assume (no block heater running) We are trying to narrow this down, for lack of better things to do in cold weather I guess. It has been mentioned that perhaps the Russian cude oil is to blame for this happening. At any rate I am just trying to collect data for those of us that are perhaps in 30-20 Degree F weather in the morning during our first starts of the day. Any additional info you can add would be helpful, otherwise please pick what best describes your first morning start.

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

I live in Northern NJ, use a splash of Redline and PowerService, with every tank. No block heater, but garage kept. I have not experienced any surging. I follow the start-up directions in the manual, depending on the temp. I think that the most I have ever had to crank it was 3 times.

I get a rough idle for about 30 seconds max, where I have to hold the pedal down a tic. No RPM gauge, but I hold it just above idle. After about a minute, runs like a top. I let it get to just about normal operating temp before I tool out the drive. Once I hit the street, runs like it does in the summer.

BTW, I use diesel fuel from a fairly high turn Mobil station, and changed my fuel filters, with very positive results, about 3 months ago. I use Delvac Dino.

Hope this helps

JCD

Well, the choice I want is not in your survey. Mine is:

no, it doesn't surge, no block heater, yes additives.

I thought people were joking about this "Russian oil". The last time I plugged the TD in over night, my wife drove the car that morning. So I don't know if it was surging first thing that morning. I know, though, for a fact it only happens when the engine is cold. BTW the surging I am experiencing is downward. In that the rpms go down then back up. So I get a vibration like the engine is about to stall, but then the rpms go back up, then down, then up, then down.
I do use diesel additive. I am using Power Service anti-gel/cetane booster and only buy my diesel from a Mobil gas station/truck stop that sees alot of business.

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
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I have had my 240D for 6 years, have never had a surge problem, always keep it in the garage, have never used additives (until this last tank-full) and never plug it in.

I wonder if the surging is related to turbochargers? It would seem that since the turbo is working with exhaust gases that may not be quite up to normal operating temperature, there could be more opportunity for instability. How many of these surging diesels are non-turbos?

Also, as a BP engineer, I would have to comment on the "Russian Crude Oil". I am not a petroleum engineer, but from what I understand, the refineries should be able to handle various qualities of crude oil. Refineries should know their capability of handling the crude before they feed it. We have a refinery in Texas that was redesigned to handle special low quality feedstock some years ago (mainly because crude in the lower 48 was deteriorating). All reputable refineries have quality standards that their final products must meet. I think if you stay with a major company and with a retailer who retains fresh stock, your concerns on fuel quality are unfounded.

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1976 240D
1987 560SL
2007 E320 Bluetec
1998 C280 (now son’s car)
1982 240D Manual - Sold

It would be NO Surging, NO block heater ( should put one on though, it's better for them) NO additives, and it's left outside in the elements. For the last two weeks around here that has been 4-6" of snow per day ave. with a few over 8" and one day of 9.2". Outside temps have varied from single digits up to almost freezing, or would that be thawing at this point? Wind chills down near zero and slightly below for the last week.
Starts right up, runs a little rough for the first 45 seconds to a minute then smoothes out. But hey, with temps like that I run a little rough first thing in the a.m. too!

BTW I have a new car as of this afternoon! My '76 300D rolled over the odometer, I now have a new car with only 18 miles on it

Rolled over...like...one million & eighteen miles???
Wow! I hope I get that sort of durability and longevity out of my 83 300D with 237000 miles on it.
Whats your secret to automotive longevity?

Bill is correct in the fact that the older Mercedes only went to 99K on the clock. Who knows just how many times this car has been around the block? It has had a bad life before I bought it and nobody kept records. I do exect to get many miles out of the MB diesels though Ducati, I just sold a VW Rabbit diesel a few months ago that had 438K miles on it . The car is still running daily and getting 46-48 mpg.
The only "key" to longevity is maintainance. Be vigilant, change the oil frequently and when the car is HOT. Do your maint. on a schedule, not when something breaks. I try to replace stuff BEFORE it goes bad.
Take brake pads for example, if you change them just a little early, NO harm done. Change them a little too late and you also buy new rotors. or at least pay to have them turned. Not to mention that it could cause an accident, which would more than likely cost you a whole lot more! I think that a lot of others on the list will agree though, simple things like oil changes will go a LONG way towards longevity. Tom

I use the Redline DFC and do not have a block heater and am not experiencing the surge but the coldest I have started it so far has only been in the 30's dF (it actually snowed today which is real rare). The forecast calls for me to be able to start it in tempertures below 20 dF on Friday of this week. Should be interesting but I do do not expect any problems.

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Jim

I started up yesterday at 2 a.m. I don't know what the temp was at the time, but when I got to Middleville 2 hours later I saw the clock on the bank said it was 4°F . Hmm, that's cold enough I guess. NO additive in that tank of fuel and I don't have a block heater either. I guess what we'll wait and see what happens when it get's cold.