Never heard of such a thing here in SoCal :D

Haha yeah this is the south where snow is rare and temps rarely get into the teens. I've been looking for a suburban with the 6.5 turbo for a while, let me know how she cranks. I too have to leave for work at 8:00 so I've got the timer set to start the 300CD's block heater at 5am. It should be about 15 degrees so I expect a 5 second glow cycle to fire her right up. I'll probably make a video just for the hell of it. :)

I am in So. Cal., but in the high desert. It has gotten below freezing most every night. I have had no problems starting any of the 'Benzs, but my Mitsubishi will NOT even think of starting unless I plug it in for at least 2 hours. The best part of having a block heater (aside from being able to start the car in the first place) is having heat right away! That alone is worth the electricity used even if the car would start without being plugged in......Rich

Okay, never heard of such a thing here in Orange County :D:rolleyes::P

-15 in Wisconsin tonight
 

I was hungry for pizza and hate paying delivery charges, I I decided to try the 300d to see if it would start. I had the block heater plugged in since early afternoon, at least 6 hours. but still -15 F. Three glows and it reluctantly started, knocking adn banging , but it started.
:D

whats up with these temps?!?!
 

hmmmm, "wtf" is it...? Oooh I dunno, maybe ask ol' Al G., he knows everthin'! Why he even invented the Internet!


roflmao!

... I have to leave at 7:15... I gotta BE at the university at 8...

it's showing 10F outside right now... I got up to take a shower... no water in the place. My water main is warm, so it must be a city main has burst, or frozen... great. I went out to the shed and turned on the 75watt light out there. just to be sure there is heat in the shed. GRRRR... my truck BETTER start in a couple hours...

When I left work last night it was about -4F, I was in the middle of the parking lot. The 602 didnt even care. I turned the key after the glow plug light went off and it started. Didn't have to hold the key or anything.

I plugged the block heater in over night, had it on a timer so that it ran from 2am to 7. On the way to work, something in the upper right corner of dash (either speaker or warning buzzer) let me know that the car was just not happy. It just screamed for like 15 seconds. LOL.

If the City's water pressure dropped for an extended period of time, then I suppose you could expect piping upstream of the mains to freeze. We have a small house in the city now and our water was fine at 14 last night, but we also have the HVAC under the house too and that keeps it warm down there.

Did you drip your faucets overnight? Did the 6.5 prevail?

My neighbor was jumping his Jeep this morning when I went and fired up the benz at 8:00 in 15 degrees. I made a video and will post it along with the one I make tomorrow morning with no block heater in the same temps.

Boo hoo.

Forgot to plug the block heater in last night. Would be the first time I've ever used it. Glowed a full cycle this morning.....battery didn't want to cooperate, slow cranking. No start. (84 300D)

So not to be late to work I jumped in the 95 E300 (with 5 working gps) and got it started. Snorted and growled for a bit, but I got here.

0°F When I left at 7:45am. 4°F When I got to work at 9. It's gonna be a cold day.

That's the little draft blower fan for the climate control. Its behind the glove box, it pulls air through a tube across the climate sensor to improve accuracy. Mine would scream too in my 190 so I unplugged it. :D

It makes a big difference whether a diesel car lives in a garage or is kept outside (duh). The cold is not good for rubber seals, batteries, etc. Best to keep a battery charger on the car, a battery heater, oil heater (check this out http://www.amazon.com/ZeroStart-3200003-Lower-Radiator-Hose/dp/B0065V4MLG/ref=sr_1_9?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1389106750&sr=1-9 ) on the battery and a boost kit Clore JNC660 'Jump-N-Carry' 1, 700 Peak Amp 12-Volt Jump Starter : Amazon.com : Automotive if possible. Synthetic motor oil (Amsoil 15W40 Marine Diesel is my preference) flows at much colder temperatures than Dino oil. Anti gel in the fuel, etc etc, but you already knew that....:)

7f actual. Stayed on the boat last night to babysit it, too cold to trust automated systems. The 240D in the marina parking lot with no place to plug in a block heater. She started, summer Rotella T. Wasn't really happy about it and took a good 30 seconds of cranking after 3 glows, but she started.:)

To make y'all feel better, my 2.5L gasser (whopping 9:1CR) running synthetic 10-30 had to make two crank rotations (instead of it's usual half rotation) before it caught this morning.

4F out this morning and the 603 started instantly.