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  #1  
Old 01-22-2013, 10:55 AM
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1981 Mercedes 240D Cold Start

I apologize for the language; I had a very important meeting to attend. I am so faithful in this car now… the temp was -25 with the wind-chill this morning. No block heater, good glow plugs, good battery, lots of cranking etc.

Mercedes 240D Cold Start


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  #2  
Old 01-22-2013, 12:09 PM
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KNOW the feeling of a diesel not starting! I definitely would suggest you wait until you hear the click of the relay under the hood before turning the switch off which means the glow plugs are glowing for about 40 seconds. The click lets you know the relay has cut off the glow plugs. Do the cyle again (about 40 seconds) & your car will definitely start better. It did good just by doing what you did in the video, but will do much better with the above suggestion. How many miles are your 240D?
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  #3  
Old 01-22-2013, 12:13 PM
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Impressive. What was the actual temperature without wind chill? Where do you live?
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  #4  
Old 01-22-2013, 12:14 PM
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Great video - great car - give her an oil change to show your love!
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Old 01-22-2013, 12:43 PM
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Sounds like she was cranking fast enough. The problem with continuing to crank is the piston walls get washed down with fuel and the compression drops. If your compression is good, Glow plugs are good and she cranks at least 100 RPM it should start. You might consider a block heater and your compression might not be good enough to deal with the extreme cold, it starts OK in milder temps tho? 1981 does have the newer style pencil GPs, yes?
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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
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Old 01-22-2013, 01:53 PM
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Thanks for the replies! I will try the above. It was -25 with the windchill. I live in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. The glowplug system is the old style but it was replaced at the dealership before I bought the car. 195K miles, bought it at 192 for 3k. Minor rust, all original, maintained at dealership by an older couple. Starts excellent in any weather above -12 to -15, literally instant. This is my first time starting it under -15.

Plans this week for "edeltraud":

Oil change
Fuel filters
Air filter
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  #7  
Old 01-22-2013, 02:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marco5 View Post
I apologize for the language; I had a very important meeting to attend. I am so faithful in this car now… the temp was -25 with the wind-chill this morning. No block heater, good glow plugs, good battery, lots of cranking etc.

Mercedes 240D Cold Start
I live in San Diego so I do not know what is -25 like. Look like you have a solid car. But with due respect, I would not depend on a 32 years old diesel car to make a very important meeting. What happened if it did not start, do you have a backup plan?
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Old 01-22-2013, 02:30 PM
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backup plan is the wifes 05 c240 which I plan to sell for a EDI. I've never had edeltraud fail, and with staying right on top of maintenance I should be OK. Compression is 340 at each cylinder.

All parts from dealership
Oil changes will be done every 5k
Air filters 8k
Fuel Filters will be done every 10k with 2 spares in trunk
Full Diesel Purge every 10k
Valve adjustment will be done every 15k
This summer I will be pulling the fuel tank out and cleaning it.
Will probably also do the valve cover gasket as its original... ;/
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  #9  
Old 01-22-2013, 02:49 PM
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Couple of comments:
Synthetic oil increases starting rpm's significantly in very cold weather.
Retrofit pencil glow plugs significantly improve cold weather starting.
You have gasser habits when it comes to starting in cold weather. You should not attempt multiple different starts on a 617 or 616. Your mindset should be that once the key is turned to the start position, it stays in that position until the battery is dead or the engine starts. The first starting attempt is always better than subsequent attempts, hence that rule. If the engine starts running on one cylinder, keep the starter engaged until enough other cylinders kick in to keep it running.
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  #10  
Old 01-22-2013, 02:52 PM
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I know you just replaced them but using the new style GPs make a huge difference, they just do a way better job and they use less juice. Sorry, I know thats not what you want to hear. I guess they wouldn't bother to mention that at the dealer. Theres lots of info if you do a search and maybe change next time.
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1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
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2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
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  #11  
Old 01-22-2013, 03:06 PM
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No reason to apologize, in that case I will be changing them out for the pencil style.

I will also only do one glow cycle next cold start, followed by waiting for the "click", followed then by continous cranking until she fires reducing my chance of killing the battery before the engine starts.
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  #12  
Old 01-22-2013, 03:10 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marco5 View Post
Thanks for the replies! I will try the above. It was -25 with the windchill. I live in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. The glowplug system is the old style but it was replaced at the dealership before I bought the car. 195K miles, bought it at 192 for 3k. Minor rust, all original, maintained at dealership by an older couple. Starts excellent in any weather above -12 to -15, literally instant. This is my first time starting it under -15.

Plans this week for "edeltraud":

Oil change
Fuel filters
Air filter
Ah, Canadian. So Celsius, right? So that would be -13F.
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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife
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  #13  
Old 01-22-2013, 03:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marco5 View Post
No reason to apologize, in that case I will be changing them out for the pencil style.

I will also only do one glow cycle next cold start, followed by waiting for the "click", followed then by continous cranking until she fires reducing my chance of killing the battery before the engine starts.
I think the multiple glow cycles is still a good idea....simply adds more heat prior to cranking.
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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife
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  #14  
Old 01-22-2013, 03:36 PM
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An '81 240D with "old style" glow plugs? I'm pretty sure that 1979 was the last year with series plugs. If the engine has the series style plugs, there may be more of a story to this car than the owner is aware of.

Has anyone actually searched for retrofit glow plugs for the pre-1980 engines lately? They aren't that easy to find these days, at least not if you want Bosch.
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  #15  
Old 01-22-2013, 03:43 PM
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I appolgize by stating "old style", they are not series. I am new to diesels . They are whatever came with the car stock, but completely replaced by mercedes a year ago. So same style, just new.

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