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  #1  
Old 01-14-2011, 07:20 AM
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Is Idling the Engine When Cold Harmful?

First, I know the preferred method is simply to turn the car on, make sure there's sufficient oil pressure, then drive.....SLOOOOOOOOOOWLY.

Second, I know any diesel won't generate any signficant heat idling since it's not under load.

BUT, when it's 10F outside, it helps to get a jump start....so I let it idle for 20 minutes or so so that it warms up quicker.

Is this harmful to the car in any significant way? FWIW I used Mobil 1 5w40.

Thanks.

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Old 01-14-2011, 08:03 AM
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When I lived in Yankee-land, I had a 240D that I would run all night so I could get to work in the morning. Not the best idea maybe, but I sold it with 300k miles and it was still running good.
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  #3  
Old 01-14-2011, 08:06 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Daman858 View Post
When I lived in Yankee-land, I had a 240D that I would run all night so I could get to work in the morning. Not the best idea maybe, but I sold it with 300k miles and it was still running good.
Of course in your case you were idling engine HOT. My question: is it harmful to be idled COLD?

I'm curious: how much fuel did you use overnight?
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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife
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  #4  
Old 01-14-2011, 08:19 AM
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MB recommends against it, it will cause soot buildup in the combustion chamber, and can cause the glow plugs to fail early. a good italian tuneup should be implemented if you regularly let it idle a long time.
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Old 01-14-2011, 08:22 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vstech View Post
MB recommends against it, it will cause soot buildup in the combustion chamber, and can cause the glow plugs to fail early. a good italian tuneup should be implemented if you regularly let it idle a long time.
What's the reason for the early glow plug failure? The extra soot?
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06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
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  #6  
Old 01-14-2011, 08:31 AM
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I have no problem letting my OM603 idle in the morning (10 to 15 minutes) to warm up. Being in the marine industry, we have ALL kinds of diesels that idle many hours with no issues. Of course none are MB's. Cat, Detroit, Volvo, Man, MTU, Perkins, all spend lots of time idling. I think a well maintained engine should be fine. I have toyed with the idea of a fast idle solenoid or cable to raise the rpms up to 1500 or so to promote faster warm up. Of course the block heater helps alot. At 14 degrees this morning my MB fired right up without the block heater. Just takes a while to warm up.
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  #7  
Old 01-14-2011, 11:06 AM
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I used to let mine idle 10-15 mins in the morning while I cleaned the snow off of it and so on.....never hurt it. Still going strong with 307k. You might want to reduce your miles between oil changes if you do a ton of cold idling....other than that....I'd not worry about it. And it might need a good Italian tuneup every now and then from soot/carbon buildup.
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Old 01-14-2011, 11:07 AM
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Bdtsr - you give me hope. I am going to try to fire up my '81 300SD in 24 degree weather in Atlanta; has not been started since Sunday. Have kept a drop cord with 100w light under it all this time for a little additional heat.
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Old 01-14-2011, 11:09 AM
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I only let mine "warm up" for a couple of minutes if it's extremely cold (below about 10F). It doesn't really warm up until you drive it anyway.
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  #10  
Old 01-14-2011, 11:09 AM
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Answer

Quote:
Originally Posted by shertex View Post
What's the reason for the early glow plug failure? The extra soot?
Yes, soot buildup on the glow plugs.
Failure to perform an Italian tuneup after hours of idling is a serious driver error.
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  #11  
Old 01-14-2011, 11:12 AM
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It is bad for the engine.

Mercedes, Caterpillar, Detroit Diesel, Volvo, ... all recommend against extended idling hot or cold, only for cool-down when necessary.

Yes it can gum up the rings, will add condensation and fuel to the oil, carbon up the valves and exhaust passages, at least the EGR (shouldn't be) valve isn't open.

Many people will tell you that they've done it for years and the engine still runs, which is not scientific only anectotes. I knew a guy who claimed that oil changes were bad, and that he had never changed the oil and filter on his Ford Fiesta since new, and it still ran fine so that proved his point (?). Mercedes likely has a reason for instructing us otherwise. They really don't burn enough fuel idling to get cylinder temps up, especially if the heater/defroster is on and sapping what heat there is. It's a long warm-up.

Large engines always have a high-idle setting to allow the engine to idle a bit longer, we idle our big DD engines on high-idle often for 5-10 minutes to build air pressure, but that's a bit of a necessity after sitting a while. It probably would be better for your car to either follow the MFGR's recommendation to not idle for warm-up, or try to keep the idle up (1000rpm?) a bit while doing so.
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Old 01-14-2011, 11:24 AM
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When it's below about 10 degrees and I have to drive early in the morning, I'll typically start the TD when I get up and let it idle for about 45 minutes before driving it. It melts the ice of the windows and warms up the interior. I can't recall what the temp gauge reads after that amount of idling but the temperature is high enough to get the interior toasty. That's probably only a dozen days a year so I'm not about change my behavior and start scraping icy windows instead.
By the way, it is illegal to do this in Denver. It's called 'puffing'. I use two keys and always lock the car when it's running.
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  #13  
Old 01-14-2011, 11:25 AM
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A 617 will warm up to pretty much operating temp within 10-15 mins of idling....depends on the idle speed. My dad's winter SD idles around 900 (on purpose) and it warms up pretty quick.

Longest I've left mine running/idling in the cold was maybe an hour....when it was quite cold (5-10F) and the engine temp/oil temp did not fall below 80C.
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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)
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  #14  
Old 01-14-2011, 11:34 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pawoSD View Post
A 617 will warm up to pretty much operating temp within 10-15 mins of idling....depends on the idle speed. My dad's winter SD idles around 900 (on purpose) and it warms up pretty quick.

Longest I've left mine running/idling in the cold was maybe an hour....when it was quite cold (5-10F) and the engine temp/oil temp did not fall below 80C.
I've only done that a handful of times, when it was well below 0F. The engine will eventually warm up but the rest of the drive train is still cold anyway. If I'm that concerned, I just plug it in. If the thermostat is correct it will stay above 80C, even in very cold weather.
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  #15  
Old 01-14-2011, 11:57 AM
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I remember how those NA 'Birds start cold, ... there's some serious white smoke!

Quote:
Originally Posted by kerry View Post
When it's below about 10 degrees and I have to drive early in the morning, I'll typically start the TD when I get up and let it idle for about 45 minutes before driving it. It melts the ice of the windows and warms up the interior. I can't recall what the temp gauge reads after that amount of idling but the temperature is high enough to get the interior toasty. That's probably only a dozen days a year so I'm not about change my behavior and start scraping icy windows instead.
By the way, it is illegal to do this in Denver. It's called 'puffing'. I use two keys and always lock the car when it's running.

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