engine block heater
 

ok its 11° here in pittsburgh.
mathilda doesnt want to start.
shes start fine in 20+ weather but not this mind numbing temp.
what is the best block heater to get.
i hear tell of magnetic ones.
did a search on fleabay nothing came up.



minsk
1982 300d

A lower radiator hose heater is the easiest to install and works well (make sure the wind doesn't cool the car again)

In a pinch a 100W lightbulb under the hood and a blanket works too

thanx simpler,
i rad diesel giants thread...that may be the way ill go.
i think my battery might be kaput also

whats the best battery one can buy for 1982 300d in these modern days...
i hear johnson controls is the way to go for battery purchasing

I recommend you avoid the Kats brand of lower rad hose heater if at all possible. Lots of reviews on them saying the last between 1-3 months.

Try to get the ZeroStart brand.

Magnetic heaters are better than nothing but are far inferior to a block heater and not as effective as a coolant heater. And the most widely distributed brand seems to be Kats....

You may have to do some looking. A cold snap is NOT the best time to be shopping for any auxiliary heating unit.

Hint: try Amazon. The zerostart number should be 32003 (that is what I installed on my 300d, you need a 1.5 inch model).

zach

exactly...
i think it might actually be my 5 year old battery causing the starting whoas,
not a block heater... my freshly trickle charged battery fired mathilda right up in 15° weather


minsk

Whats wrong with the original block heater? My OM617 needs to be plugged in below 10 if I want it to start.

Not all were equipped with a block heater. It was a dealer installed option. Many cars sold in warmer climates didn't get the option.

The battery may not be helping, but when you get to the temp you have today, valve adjustment, health/age of glowplugs and having dino versus synthetic oil in the crankcase are all factors in play as well. (The others are absolute needs, the synthetic is a 'nice to have' where you are.)

Having some heat in the motor helps things along greatly, if any of what I mentioned is not 90 pct or better.

hmmm where would a factory block heater option be...this car is originally from cali...

Positioning a hair dryer in the intake when you are trying to start can also be effective.

They are available, if you wish to go that route.

Not something you are going to want to do outside in these temps. I have never done it but based on what I've read, some people have a bear of a job getting the frost plug out.

Installing a block heater is not a job to be taken lightly in any weather. It is getting the block plug out that is difficult. I think there is a thread here somewhere about that.

Magnetic may not be as good as block heater, but they do work. Most are 200W. I need a new cord for my 300D block heater and have done for about 10 years. Reason being, I just use the magnetic heater. One advantage of magnetic unit, is that it self removes itself if I forget to remove it before backing out of garage :)

Regarding coolant hose heaters - My 2014 GLK250 came from factory with one as standard equipment. MB must think they work. But as mentioned in another thread, I see no way they can work with the thermostat arrangement found on our 123/126's. They would just heat the coolant in the hose.

Just being in unheated garage is generally enough for my car. It has started fine without heater even in this frigid weather.

If you decide to purchase a Block Heater that goes into the Block some people have found that the Heater Element with threads is too small for the Threaded Hole in the Block.
There is threaded adapter Sleeve for that but it is often not sold separately.

I looked for the Block Heater on My Car and I was not able to see it anywhere and I thought it did not have one. About 2 years after that I found the Block Heater Cord tied up and shoved way up inside between the Radiator and the Front Sheet Metal.

I plugged it in and it worked.

I did not get a good look at the location of the Block Heater till I removed My Manifolds and Turbocharger.

so it turned out i had a poopy battery.
got a new one from autozone H8-AGM.
$165.00 ugh
it was 5° here today.
she fired right up no issues.
wweeeee.

now tho pesky power locks


EDIT: no problem starting at -2° also. god, i hate the cold weather tho.

I had the same issue, my MB battery finally couldn't do it anymore at 7 years old, had to swap it out a few days ago. Now it starts at 0F and below with no issues.

Is this the thread you were thinking of?

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/240529-definitive-block-heater-coolant-plug-removal-thread.html


This is the Wiki on it.
PeachPartsWiki: Block Heater Removal

Charlie

That's the one. Seems like removing engine should be first step!

BTW, I edited my previous post regarding rad hose heaters:

I sent an email about this to Diesel Giant (who sell hose heaters), but no reply yet.

I can testify from my own experimentation that they are useless because they cannot hear the thermostat up enough to have it open, hence the warm coolant cannot circulate to the block.

If the car is fully warmed up and the thermo is open it will keep the coolant circulating for a few hours at best.

You would have to drill holes in the thermostat I think

I don't think you would want to do that, but that's another discussion!

What you could do perhaps, is put a tee in the lower rad hose above the heater and run a smaller hose over to a nipple installed on the block drain plug hole. Maybe put a valve in the line. That would at least get the hot water into the block. I think there may have been a commercial unit designed to do something like this, but I have not seen it.

By the way aieeegrunt where in Canada are you? Your weather sounds worse than ours!

I ran a lower radiator hose heater (100w?) on my 617 and it helped cold starts considerably. An upper hose heater wouldn't do much, but lower definitely does.

Here is the data you need
 

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/240529-definitive-block-heater-coolant-plug-removal-thread.html
I strongly suggest you read the full thread.
This plug is a major PIA to remove.

Here are suggestions for other options.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/85227-engine-block-heater-ideas.html

I hope you will read through this thread also.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/137674-cold-weather-starting-links.html#post1018529

.

Wisconsin block heater
 

How about using a Wisconsin block heater?

Ya there could certainly be other unintended consequences from drilling holes in the thermostat to be sure, although I have heard of people making a "summer thermostat" by drilling holes.

The other option is heating up the thermostat housing somehow. It's aluminum isn't it on a 1978? So sticking a magnet heater to it wouldn't work. Probably a bad idea anyways.

What about the hoses that supply heat to the cabin? Or are those behind the thermostat as well.

Just outside Owen Sound. The whole region has been shut down for most of the week. We've managed to somehow combine extremely low temps with massive snowfall, which I thought was physically impossible, but nature finds a way.

I live in the country and don't have a garage, so the car is exposed to tundra winds.

A lower radiator hose should work in the W123. It is just much less efficient than a block heater thus has to be much higher wattage than the block heater since it has to heat the coolant in the hose up first, wait for the hot coolant to rise up to the thermostat to open before warm coolant can begin to circulate in the block. W123 block heater is 400W. I think lower rad hose heaters start at 1000W and go as high as 1500W. At the kind of power, you have to be real careful with the install so it does not start a fire. That means do not wrap the heater with any kind of insulation and make sure it is not near anything that is flamable that can catch on fire.

Got the Bosch 49-850B at PepBoys, out the door for $98.36. 20% off online order minus another $15 core charge. 36 mos free replacement, etc.
Still need to get my lower rad heater installed. Should've had my shop do it last week when I had the valves adjusted and my oil leaks fixed.
I still need a decent starter and winter oil. I diluted the Rotella 15w40 with Marvel Mystery Oil and it seems to thin it out. Still getting a long, hard start below zero, afraid it's going to kill the starter. Tooo cold to check glows, but they were changed in '09, prolly a couple are dead.
This is the '84 300d I had shipped to me in Cincinnati from Portland, OR back in sept.

Seeing you have nothing to lose, you could try heating the thermostat housing witha hot air gun and see if that will open thermostat. Then your rad hose heater might keep the circulation going, but unless you get the bypass to close @ about 94C, you may just be heating the rad :) But maybe worth a try.


I think I have read some posts about tying into the heater hoses. Have not studied them. I am sure there is something you could do to get the hose heater to be effective but may be a summer job (By then we forget about these things!).

We had Tundra swans here this fall - but even they have gone South :)

I don't think my car would start either if it was left outdoors. When I worked, just leaving car at outdoor parking all day was enough to require a tow when temperature were really low. One other guy had an SDL daily driver - he some how got them to run an extension out to the parking area for him.

BTW, have you checked to see if there is a block heater installed? I know that is not easy to do at this time of year.

My block heater stopped working, which is why I installed the hose one. Perhaps there should be some sort of forum announcement about this, because it was searching the forums for alternatives that gave me the idea to install this thing in the first place.

I am assuming that the thermostat is working properly; if it was stuck shut I'd have overheating issues during normal driving.

I suppose I could install another one between the thermostat and the block. That would be fun in this weather. Heat rises, I wonder which heater would "win" and which way the coolant would flow.

Gett yourself one of these:

RadioShack True-RMS Digital Clamp-on Multimeter : Multimeters | RadioShack.com

Make sure all lights and accessories are off. Turn glows on while some one watch the meter (readings will drop as the plugs get hotter). If you have 5 working glow plugs you should get an initial reading of around 100 amps. If you get initial 80 amps, one glow is out, 60 2 are out etc.

Here is mine (92.8 amps) clamped around the battery ground cable approx 3 seconds after glow started, which tells me all 5 glow plugs are drawing the correct amount of current and none are burned out.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...107_120549.jpg

Many report not working block heaters due to missing cord or possibly a bad cord. I'd suggest checking the heater at the connector with an ohmmeter first. Chances are it is still good (a good heater should be 36 ohms for a 400W heater). From what I've read, replacement cords are hard to find. A way around that is get a cord from an old cloths iron or toaster and crimp on terminals that fit the block heater and glue it in with RTV. Strain relief it so it doesn't get yanked off.

This is the block heater plug on my 85. It was under the bumper with the cover on when I found it. I don't think the PO ever used it or knew of it's existence since it was always garaged and they didn't drive it much in the winter.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...108_113434.jpg

Engine block heater cord
 

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/76493-lets-wire-up-block-heater.html

NAPA cord PN: 28450
NAPA AUTO PARTS


This looks suspiciously familiar. :)

Replacement Block Heater Cord, 251919, Fleetguard Cummins - Ryder Fleet Products

https://www.google.com/search?q=Fleetguard+Replacement+Block+Heater+Cord+251919&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

.

This is not my pic. I found it on the block heater plug removal thread. Is this the Mercedes block heater that is installed in the block? Does anyone have a pic of it unistalled? It is supposedly made out of brass and is beautifully made.

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/1...ockheater2.jpg

Here it is
 

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...p-untitled.jpg


.

How does the various products mentioned on the list compare, and which one can be said to be the best?
https://11must.com/best-clamp-meters/