Noisier in the cold
 

Hi all,

Just want to ask a probably stupid couple of questions. First off, as the weather has turned colder I have noticed that my 83 300D sounds a lot more knocky/clattery. Now I know diesels' tend to do that in colder weather, but as the engine warms up (after about 10 miles) it quiets down and sounds pretty much normal. Is this a problem, or fairly normal?

I know it most likely needs injectors (268K and no record of an injector change so they are probably original) and it is coming due for its next valve adjustment at 270K (I do them every 15,000 miles)

The car starts fine in the cold, idles a tad rough for the first minute but smooths out fine. Runs great on the open road, just noisier until warmed up

So, my questions are......is this a characteristic of the crappy fuel we get here, or a factor of the cold weather? Or the injectors and valve adjustment.....OR, all of the above <grin>

Thanks,

Glenn

whenever it gets colder the injectors on my 81 300D really start nailing.. but like you said after about 10 minutes of running they quiet down

It's normal. Some may have to do with fluids not atomizing as well cold and then there are the molecular properties of solids cold vs hot that may account for the noise.

Is there a scientist in the house?

Metal shrinks when its cold and expands when hot.....my only explanation......

Here's another question for the scientist when them show up.....

I always have some smoke on first start up of the day....most likely I need new valve seals......but when I it is the 20s.....I have zero smoke.....even when everyone else's cars are puffing white in the cold.....I have nothing....