How Well do MB CDI Diesels Start in Cold Weather?
 

Just thinking 20 years out when I can afford one....... and they are fully depreciated....... if they turn out to be reliable.......

Seriously, the CDIs are considered "no wait to start" diesels. How well does that fly in cold weather?

Ken300D

What cold weather?

EVIL statement...
what's the temps over there? here in southern NC it was 18F this morning...
John

Look for videos of them on youtube....it appears that they start up mighty quick in the cold...compared to our old diesels anyways....

Answer is probably best found from the fleet manager of UPS, or FedEx or DHL in Alaska, Montana, or North Dakota etc.
I haven't heard any complaints of cold weather starting problems from Sprinter owners on the Yahoo group.

When I rented a Isuzu NPR truck last winter (5.2L 4-cyl diesel), it was around 20 degrees or so and it took a 7 second glow. Didn't need anything after that since the engine was hot or warm all day.

Here's one.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VN3culueG8o

Temperature was -14C or 7 degrees Fahrenheit.

IMHO, as fast as they glow, it didn't start terribly well. But certainly not bad. Not as good as a well tuned 60x MB diesel (2 cranks and fires to life without a sputter).

It seems like there is something wrong with that truck. I have heard E320CDI's start in the 30's, and it wasn't like that. You could only tell it was a diesel by the slight clack and the badge on the trunk.

couple of my local construction buddies have the sprinters they love em and they been drivin around all weekend in the minus temp range
I feel for you vstech 18 is not north carolina weather to me but i spent my winters on pamlico sound

20 - 30 degrees makes a huge difference in diesel cold starts. Maybe if the driver had bothered to glow longer than ~4 seconds, it would've started more evenly.

Also the sound encapsulation was not really as much a consideration with MB Sprinter vans as it was with the E320 CDI.

Ours is great!!!! I wish my 220D started that nice...... It is unbelievable how fast it starts!

He didn't really let that thing glow at all in that video, nor did he give it any throttle assistance once it got going when cranking. Longer glow + a little throttle and I bet it'd have started right up on the first try.

My 617 started today in about 4-5 cranks with a 10 second glow at 13F :D Its been COOOOLD here for WEEKS.

I have a 2006 E320 CDI and it's been pretty cold here in Indiana. 9-10 F. Turn the key glows for maybe 1 second and off you go. No stutter, hesitation. From my past experience it does take a little longer to warm up but other than that it's wonderfu.

3 point start

300sd cold starting
 

I fired up my 300sd yesterday evening after she had sat for two weeks through quite a cold spell. We had temps on the weekend down to -18 C.

When I started her it was -10 to -11 C or about 14 F. Started OK. You need to give a little extra gas pedal when they fire or it just seems to die .....my old VW diesel was just the same.

Much colder than that and I would use the block heater. When you want her to start, you want her to start!

I only used my heater once this winter....and it wasn't even that cold out....I got too lazy to plug it in since the car starts fine without it. :D