As it is all over the east coast, the weather sucks.

Trusty old Pete refused to start this morning. I figured the cold got to the battery so I put my fresh 'warm' battery but still no go.

It has no block heater so he is disabled for now until the weather gets warmer. In the future, I may need to keep the car running all night long to make sure I can drive it.

a few questions.....

1. do i use a lot of fuel when the car idles all night long?
2. will the battery need to be recharged now that i have attempted to start the car unsuccessfully for about 10 times?
3. is the starting problem due to a cold-weakened battery? will a battery 'jacket' help? electric or not.
4. how long can i continuously 'crank' the starter? 5 seconds? 10?
5. i use a diesel 15w40 oil. i assume that is ok to use in the winter.

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Jennifer
90 350sdl

I'll try to answer some of your questions. I'm sure others will chime in that know more about this than I do:

1. Don't know. Never done that.
2. That probably depends on the condition the battery was in.
3. The cold weather starting problem is due to the inability to get your combustion chamber hot enough to help ignite the fuel. Bad glow plugs can be a culprit. Out of adjustment valves can also cause you to lose compression which would make it harder to start.
4. I would never crank it more than 30 seconds and then I would let it cool for two minutes before cranking it again.
5. Most people say that synthetic oil makes winter starting a lot easier.

Don't give up on your car. Mine almost didn't start this morning either. It rarely gets that cold where we are so you shouldn't have that problem very often.

Good luck.

Scott

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Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)

Answers for Ya-

1.- Won't use a lot as Diesels idle so lean. However, this is not a good idea for other reasons- low oil pressure during prolonged idle means top end of engine will not be lubed sufficiently. (That is why there is a fast idle knob on dash- but with fast idle, you will consume more fuel). Also, at idle, engine temperature will drop substantially- on a real cold night enough to affect combustion, and this will result in carbon buildup
2.- when you crank down a battery, it needs to be recharged immediately after, or internal shorting of cells could result if sitting to long discharged
3.- batteries lose a lot of efficiency when cold, so a battery warmer is a good investment- so is a block heater, and you plug the two in together.
4.- if engine is starting to come to life while cranking, don't let go- keep cranking until it actually starts- the diesel starter is built to take this kind of abuse, because your first chance may be your only chance
5.- 15W40 is too thick for winter use. You should look for a synthetic or semi-synthetic 5W40

Short quick advice- get your glow plug system checked / repaired, get valves checked / adjusted, go to 5W40 oil, and put in a block heater. Either that, or put the car away for winter and enjoy the road insurance savings.

Dave

1976 White 300D W115 "Pearl"

1. About 1/2 liter per hr, seems like I remember our Jetta is at about 1/4L per hour.
2. Depends on how long you let it turn and shape of battery.
3. Could be, could be glow plug(s), fuel gelled, could be loose nut behind wheel.
4. Depends on condition of starter & battery. I would crank no more then 10 to 15 seconds then let cool for a minute or so.
5. Depends on condition of car, temps car exposed to, and if synthetic or not. Non synthetic 15W-40 will be as thick as 120W gear oil is at room temp, makes it hard for engine to crank fast enough to start. If synthetic, it will be much better then nonsynthetic, but I run 5W-40 Mobil Delvac 1/ Mobil 1 Truck & SUV oil pretty much year around without any problems instead of the Mobil 1 15W-50 synthetic.

The 240D was left out last night to test cold starting and this morning at 19* F she fired right up 30 seconds after glow light went out, sounded like hell, but it smoothed out in just a few seconds. I thought last night it was to be down around 10* F, but no 2 weather sites or TV station's have same prediction.

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'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

Ok, I've got an idea, don't know if it'll work though. How about blasting a hair drier or heat gun if you have one in the air intake so the air going into the engine is warmer to begin with. I've heard of people using a blow torch or similar in the intake of old tractors to get them started in really cold weather so I'm theorizing that a hair drier would have the same effect. The 5.9 Cummins in Dodge pickups also uses a grid-heater that heats the air in the intake instead of using glow plugs.

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1985 300D Turbo ~225k
2000 F350 (Powerstroke) 4X4, SWB, CC, SRW, 6spd ~148k
1999 International 4900, DT466e (250hp/660 ft/lbs), Allison MD3060 ~73k

How about hot coals under the engine? If you have absolutely nothing, then pop the hood and maneuver the car so the sunlight is hitting the engine.

Scott

__________________
Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)

So Lil'Pete had a case of the Mondays?

I've been told that a idling diesel uses about 1/6 the fuel that a gasser uses.

These cars were designed for taxi use, lots of idling. Sometimes you won't get good coolant flow to your heater core. That's why they put the aux pump in the newer models. But that's the worst that'll happen. I've know some people to have let there cars idle for sereral days.

Charge your battery before the next attempt.

Change your oil to 0w-30 or 0w-40. I was talking to whunter the other day and he mentioned that after changing his oil, his cold cranking spped increased about 70%.

Cranking speed is a key to getting these beasts to start in the cold.

__________________
Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

Michael is correct with this. I strongly encourage you to get some synthetic oil for that engine. You can get Rotella synthetic for $13.00 per gallon at Wal-mart. It's not the best synthetic you can buy, but, for a few dollars more than dino oil, you will get a good bit more cranking speed out of it.

Of course, the block heater will be the best solution for the whole problem.

Is everyone running block heaters all night or just a few hours. In DC it go to about 8 degrees F last night and I had the timer kick the block heater on about 4 am. Did not do a lot, or so it seemed. Very rough start. I did test my Block heater using the light bulb test and it did dim. After last year I was never really sure that it worked at all.

So, is running it all night the answer?

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Alan Hamm
'87 300SDL 277K Miles
'89 560 SL 68K Miles

Alan, running all night is definitely not the answer.

If the block heater is working, the engine should start like it was 50 degrees outside.

One question:

Did you leave the plugs on for an extended period (30 seconds) before the first crank? The 603 definitely requires this, even in warmer temperatures.

If so, then the block heater may need an additional couple of hours. There is normally no requirement to leave it on all night. However, I have done this with the 617 because I have no timer for it. The 617 thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

IT, being the block heater, not the car!

My neighbors (and my wife) would hang me from the highest limb if I tried that

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Alan Hamm
'87 300SDL 277K Miles
'89 560 SL 68K Miles

Oooooppss. My mistake.

With regard to the block heater, maybe give it a try overnight when it is very cold (less than 15 F.) and see what it does.

I have no personal advice on the 603 and my advice on the 617 is limited to running the block heater all night.

Is your SDL down for the winter? What do you do with that?

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Alan Hamm
'87 300SDL 277K Miles
'89 560 SL 68K Miles

Definitely not. It just has not been started at any cold temperatures yet.
I don't normally take it out with the exception of my weekly visits to CT, or when I have an interstate business trip.

It's the SD that is in for the winter due to that damn head gasket. However, I'll try to get it out in late January for a run if the temperatures are up and the roads are clean.

I was plugging mine in for 2-3 hours and she fires right up like summer. But that was just down to the 20's. When she is running agian we will see how the cold temps affect starting.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200