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

Thanks,

Glenn

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2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 91K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 231K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 196K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 249K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 376K (diesel commuter)

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

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1981 NA 300D 310k miles

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?

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

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....

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