the car cranks fine, but wont start.

i can hear the fuel pump whirring on keyturn.

im thinking its frozen gasoline, as it does not seem to be geting gas. anyone have experience with symptoms of frozen gas lines?

i added gas linne antifreeze, but am wondering how long it might take to actually thaw out the frozen bits in the gasline.

I had a tricky start with my otherwise 100% faithful 300E the other morning. I had left the car outside and it was -31C when I tried to start it. Same symptoms - cranked, fuel pump whirring, engine didn't catch. I suspected severe frostbite. So I pushed the car into the garage and I blasted a heater on the engine. I also took a hair dryer to the upper engine. I gave it 15 mins and then tried again, this time depressing the throttle a bit (something I never do). This did the trick, it started up fine. Good luck!

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

thanks for advice!

as an added bit of info,

i actually read the owners manual for laughs, there being not much else to do, and it says to "depress the accelerator 3 times prior to starting" below 18 C. (p.15 of the '88 300e version) interesting. commentary?

this i will try after the battery gets its recharge.

The manual for my '86 300E reads similar. But take a closer look on touching the gas pedal while starting. Mine reads, "less than minus 18 deg. C" That is 0 deg. F. Pretty chilly.

Any thing above that and "do not depress accelerator".

Good luck,

Blake
-'86 300E

18C = 64.4F

18F= -7.8C

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2001 E200 Kompressor Avantgarde
1987 300E 5-speed
1976 450SLC
1975 280S (sold)
1973 230.6 (sold)

My 86 300E did this to me last week when it was -15F in Minnesota. I added Heet "fuel anti-freeze" and tried the next day and the car started with no problem.
It definitely was the cold. I highly recomend Heet product!!

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1984 MB 300D Turbo Diesel W123 Sedan 132K
1987 MB 300D Turbo W124 Sedan 295K
1983 Porsche 944 104K
1989 Audi 80 Quattro 180K
2002 Audi A6 3.0 Quattro Avant 49K (Wife's car with warranty )

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Hi,

You might try checking the vacuum hoses at the idle control valve.

They get old and crack - even more likely in very cold weather.

I had the same symptoms as you. It was a leaking vacuum hose. Cheap to buy but the one to the manifold is a tough one to replace. Do a search on breather hoses and you'll get a number of posts on how to do it.

Good luck,

chicago124