nah, the wine is for me. the wax is for her.

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1982 240 D, 308,000 - 321,127 miles (sold)
1982 300 TD,166,500 - 226,000 miles
1998 E 320, 120,000 - 144,000 miles
2005 C 230 K, 26,000 - 77,000 miles (sold)

I just wait until it's running smoothly and then drive off gently. If it's cold enough out to need extra warm-up time, at least if it's mine, it starts up sounding fairly rough. When it smooths out a bit, it's ready to go.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

In GA you can start and go.

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82 300D....went to MB heaven
90 350 SDL....excercising con rods

I live in No VA. When it is under 50 degrees I let it warm up for a few minutes. Otherwise if I don't the car has hardly any power. It's like it's got build up some steam or something to get going in the cold mornings.

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1985 Mercedes Benz 300SD, TMU
2015 Chrysler 200S

if the sdl is rough at startup, then some glow plugs are out...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

If idling isn't good for an diesel engine why do semis idle for many many hours while the drivers sleep.

As for warming up, if I don't let mine sit at idle for 15 mins or so then it's really slow when I try to move it. No power, cold and slow.
Mine is happier with a nice long warm up idle.

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Ginny in Denver-ish
78 300SD, 265K (mine)

It may have no power for the first 300 feet, but that warms it up a lot faster than idling, and then the power is there.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I have seen this in other threads and wondered the same thing...is a 6xx engine that much different from the engines in most semis?

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Current Mercedes
1979 maple yellow 240D 4-speed

Gone and fondly remembered:
1980 orient red 240D 4-speed

Gone and NOT fondly remembered:
1982 Chna Blue 300TD

Other car in the stable:
2013 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI / 6-speed MT

I'm going to be instantly outvoted on this, because I've started threads about it before.

My personal opinion: no.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

The 603 is indirect injection while essentially every semi is a direct injection. Other than that...they are just big rugged diesels....just like the ones in our cars....

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Semis usually idle because they want cabin heat and power. A lot of newer semis have an Aux Power Unit which has a smaller diesel engine that can run just to provide heat, A/C and power.

See post #37.

Diesel semis used to idle, it's all they had for heat. Many semis will shut-off on their own now, and are equipped with Webasto etc. diesel-fired heaters to keep the cab (and often the engine) warm so that the engine doesn't need to idle. Idling is bad for semi engines also and owner's manuals recommend not idling. My Caterpillar manuals (dating back to 1977) have all said the same thing, do not idle to warm up, drive easily until the temp gauge comes up, and do not idle for extended periods at any time (I believe that 15minutes was the maximum back then). My Mercedes diesel manuals (602 and 603) say the same.

See post #37 again.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I went to NAPA tonight seeking a magnetic pan heater and they didn't have any, only "clamp on" ones. For those of you with a magnetic pan heater....where did you get it, and how much was it?

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

before I pulled the engine out of my wrecked 3ood (this was just a few weeks ago) I left it idling and actaully forgot about it. It was idling for three hours before I knoticed the noise. I guess this means I probably have a crapload of carbon in there, that will be gone soon the way I drive.

As for warming it up, I let mine warm up for usually ten minutes before I go. I like getting in a car thats warm, happy and strong, not cold slow and shifting weird

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1981 300SD 512k OM603

If it's real cold, not very often in Phoenix, I plug it in and let it warm up that way then just start and go. Otherwise I'll just let it idle for a couple of minutes.