Here I am
 

That was my original post. My car probably does have a worn engine. When I crank it it goes r-r-r-R-r-r-r-r-R-r as if one cylinder has low compression. The glow plugs are brand new and seem to cycle fine. I carry a little bottle of gasoline under the hood and when starting on really cold days I pry the breather tube off of the top of the oil filter and drip 4 or 5 drops of gas into the air cleaner. This seems to help. Do you-all think that a couple of gallons of gas added to the tank will harm the IP? Thanks.

Answer
 

Kerosene is better, one gallon per tank for your area..

I would also add half a quart of oil to the tank, SAE 30, Hydraulic oil, P/S fluid, ATF, Marvel Mystery Oil, etc, etc...
For lubrication...

Folks, it can get cold in Arkansas.
The older owner's manuals used to recommend mixing gasoline or kerosene with number 2diesel, if number 1 diesel is not available (never mix either with number 1 diesel), but begining around 1984, the manuals recommended only kerosene according to this formula:
+32 down to +14, mix 70% diesel, 30% kerosene. Below 14 degrees, mix 50/50. The manual also states: put the kerosene in first and never excede 50% kerosene.

His engine obviously has some problems. These cars will easily start at 10 degrees with 15-40 dino oil and no preheater if tuned correctly (valves & timing) and the glow plugs work correctly. I parked my sons car at the airport earlier this month when Seattle was 15 degrees for a week and when I tried to start the car it fired up after one revolution with just the short 5 or 10 seconds the glow plug light stayed on. I grew up in Minneapolis and there were plenty of these cars around that started just fine until it got below 0 and then most people just gave them a shot of starting fluid. A few people had tank heaters or block heaters. There was no such thing as synthetic oil then.

Dan

adding gas to Diesel for cold starts
 

Don't do it, Diesels work on a compression ignition system will burn your pistons up yes I know people have done this for years but beleive me I have torn down many a Diesel with this being done, it does destroy your engine, even too much ether will cause you a problem over time, see the thing with a gas mixture it will burn oil off your your pistons, way to hot for a diesel, now thats just my opinion, I have years of experience to back it up, if you do use eather spray across the grill not directly into the breather you will get a better result because it will be mixed with more oxygen and less ether. if its really cold find a way to heat the block ,block heater, even a kerosene heater at a distance to heat it up but not close enough to burn your car up? will help start a very cold diesel. I have even seen blanket heater left on engines over nite, and in the old days a big light bulb left under engine throws off enough heat over nite to keep engine warm enough for and easier start,,,,,,

Read through some of the papers from SAE on diesel lubrication and on the Cummins service books. They tell you that IPs that have forced engine or internal lubrication systems can handle the lack of lubrication caused by the mix of modern unleaded gas with low sulfur diesel, whereas, in the case of the newer vehicles which use diesel fuel as a lubricant/coolant, this can cause wear ovewr the long-term.

This is the same reason 40 years ago that MB in the old ponton diesel owner'smanuals for the OM 636 and OM 621 diesels, told people not to mix gas too often because high-octane Benzin also contained vanadium additives which were bad for injection pump machined surfaces.

I'll go home and give you threference.

I used 1973, because I thought that was the last year that the IPs with independent lube systems were used like in the 220D. If I'm wrong there, I'll admit it. :D

I'm late reading this - but as I recall, MB Owners Manual calls for 50% kerosene - NOT gasoline.

My 1986 manual explicitly allows cutting gasoline in if it has to be done, in small amounts. My opinion is that it won't hurt anything; it's been done throughout diesel history. We're not talking anything like 50% here. We're talking, at most, 1 gallon of gas in a full tank of diesel. That should be enough to help starting some, and not nearly enough to appreciably affect fuel lubricity.

My two cents. Your mileage is your own.

I was partly right:

Page 63 of the 1973 240D op manual: If winter fuel is not available, kerosene can be used to thin out diesel in winter as can regular gas.

" Premium fuels are not to be used."

That is just silly.

You are visualizing a gas engine where the fuel and air are in the bore as the piston start up on the compression stroke..
NOT a diesel where only the air is heating until the proper time and fuel is INJECTED into the hot air.
You have may torn a bunch of them apart...
but you were NOT qualified to figure out WHY they were in that condition when they arrived at your wrench.

Do you really think Mercedes with their millions in research and development and their reputation on the line would tell their customers things which would ruin their engines... ???????????????????????????
That Dog Won't Hunt.
You need to find a forum with more gullible members to float that stuff...

The manuals for the '83 and '85 SD make NO MENTION OF GASOLINE.
See page attached. Only kerosene mixtures are discussed.

Can you please look at your manual again and take a pic of that page and post it? I looked at my 83 300D manual and mixing with kerosene was mentioned, not gasoline.

Correct

I stand corrected, and would remove my original post if I could. It does indeed mention kerosene only, and actually states that the addition of gasoline to diesel will "destroy the trap oxidizer."

I've still seen far more farm equipment than I could count run with about 2-5% gasoline mixed in in the winter and never once has one of them died from it. But, I retract fully my original statement that the manual allows gasoline.

I think it's a matter of vintage.

The older ones (50s-70s said use kerosene or regular gas, but not premium, because of additives in the premium that might affect machined surfaces in the IP or the injectors if used extensively.

In the 1980s kerosene only was mentioned, but for different reasons: impact on pollution controls, maybe??

I don't know what the latest ones say, maybe someone with a 2000 MY or later diesel operator's manual could enlighten us.

Pls add reference of where you got this from. That was my mistake earlier, and I was justifiably called on it.

When I finish cleaning the house, I'll probably find the older ponton owner's manual that talks about vanadium in gasoline and its effect on diesels.

I also wonder if it's used in all unleaded gasoline blends now, or maybe there's something else not friendly to diesels or their emission systems (??:confused:)