Alright, so I've read over the posts of yester-year, and kind of know which direction to go in with this issue. I figured I'd post it here, to see if I was missing something (and avoid another expensive trip to the Indy).

My 83 300D runs pretty well in the cold, and has no problems starting in the 17F mornings we've been having lately. The problem? It takes forever for my cabin to fill with luxorious warm air when it's this cold outside. On days where it's 35+, it isn't really too much of a problem, so I'm wondering if this "issue" is just all in my head.

A few facts:
* The car gets up to temperature in this weather, but does so very slowly. It takes about 5 minutes of highway driving @ 70mph for the engine temp to go from frozen to 81c. After it reaches this point, it pretty much stays there with minimal variance (drops to 80c on downhills, but perks right back up to 81 - 82).
* The heat works flawlessly in "warmer" temperatures, and gets the car nice and toasty warm. Still can take a bit of time to heat up, but I kind of expect that from a 25 year old car.
* Once the car gets to operating temperature, the heat starts to build in the cabin. It *seems* to work better for local driving than highway, but that might just be in my head. Highway heat works just fine once it "gets going".

Is this just me expecting too much heat from a 25 year old car, or is this a thermostat / sticky monovalve problem? I'd get both of those things replaced, but I really don't want to work outside in this weather, and would rather not fork out a bunch of money to the Indy right now.

Between the vacuum pump, the poor heat, and now a horribly squeaky belt? Now is the winter of my discontent.

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(Oo{=|=}oO) 1983 MB 300D USA, 212,000mi. 80's yellow/white. "Gunther"
(Oo{=|=}oO) 1984 MB 300D Euro, Turbo Added in Germany, 186,000mi [SOLD] Missing her dearly.
(Oo{=|=}oO) 1984 MB 300D USA Turbodiesel, 269,000mi. [SOLD]