PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - "Engine starts immediately" Is this a good thing?

Jeremy5848 · #8 03-09-2008, 02:28 PM

My mechanic commented to me once that it was important to NOT start Mercedes diesels any more often than necessary. He advocated locking the car with a spare key and letting the engine idle while you [for example] run into school to pick up your kid. His reason for doing this was that the overhead camshaft will "drip dry" in its exposed position on top of the engine and so will have little oil for the first couple of seconds after starting.

Whether it's worth cranking the engine (with the fuel shut off) until the oil pressure comes up is another matter. Yes, it might help the engine but the wear and tear on the starting system (battery included) probably would negate any benefits. And the fact that so many of us have 200000+ miles on engines shows that it isn't a serious problem.

But it's an interesting thing to think about. Thanks for bringing up this subject.

Jeremy