Starting a Bluetec in -20*F
 

Good luck. Fresh battery, sump full of 229.52. Three glow cycles and the engine turns over but doesn't start.

Uber is a better bet.

Why? Just stay home. Or move.

My wife doesn't have the luxury of staying at home so I sent her to work in my 4Runner. The power steering on that groaned for a minute but it was fine after that.

Moving is definitely an option :)

-20, yikes. California is about to get a cold front too...67 here today, but we'll be back in the 50s later this weekend. Central CA is affordable, come on out!

You need winter fuel.
Mine start no problem.
Wait till Saturday.

mine started just fine this morning :)

chances are your fuel gelled, with the temps we're getting you NEED to run an anti-gel.

From memory 85 300D owners manual recommended up to 10% Kero in winter.
Does modern diesel manual approve of additives?

I learned my lesson last winter. Now, starting in November, every tankful on each diesel gets Opti-lube XPD....good to -10F. You folks in colder regions would need the winter formula, good down to -50F.

Mine has been firing up fine and its about -5F here....one glow cycle, cranks/running in less than 2 seconds.

Heck I've fired up my 300SD back in the day at -12F with about 50 seconds of cranking....and my 190d 2.2 I fired up around -7F in about 10 seconds of cranking. A bluetec with good fuel in it should have no issues at all.

I use Castrol Edge 0W-40 A3 B4 and have started easily in colder temperatures this week.

Is your oil synthetic? I glow for 5 or 6 seconds till the light goes out and varoom varoom

I actually laughed aloud when I read this. True statement.

There is a saying like that, it goes like this. "if you can't take the cold, stay out of the freezer, or something like that.

I am pretty sure I had a bad tank of diesel. I stuck my wife's hair dryer under the hood for about 20 minutes yesterday and it started up. Yesterday the temps warmed up to about +18 so I think that played a part in it as well.

I'll drive it as much as I can over the next few days and fill it up with diesel from a truck stop near me. We have cool weather coming the end of next week so I'll get to try again.

I'll probably install a block heater this spring when I take the car off the road for a few weeks to do some maintenance.

actually, this w123 manual states that at temps of 14 degrees Fahrenheit or below, up to 50% (!) kerosene can be used.

http://assets.mbusa.com/vcm/CAC_RAPMD/images/84%20300D%20300CD%20OM.pdf

it’s on page 85 (the actual page number, not the .pdf page number)