If you've nowhere to plug in a heater, what options do you have?
 

OK...now I'm TERRIFIED of a repeat of the Sindelfingen-sickle-syndrome on my 240D.

I live in a condo building with no outside outlet provisions...is there some sort of PASSIVE heat retaining device I could use on, around, or over the engine.

As an aside...

I remember being snowed in at a rural motel during the Blizzard of '78. For three days a big diesel semi quarter of a mile away idled contentedly. Have heard of some MB 123 diesel owners trapped in unexpectedly frigid temps who chose to let their cars idle all night with no lasting ill effect.

My neighbour has a rig and he has a diesel powered heater that keeps it warm overnight.It's very quiet and it lets him take off out of the neighbourhood without warming it up.As his neighbour I'm grateful ,another house we had, our neighbour would start his gravel truck and let it idle for a 1/2 hour before he left.I didn't like him very much:mad:

sterno?

can you drop a 10 gage extension cord from your apt/condo without pissing off the neighbors?


keep you battery up by driving at least 30min after you start the cold beast.

I had a friend (now deceased) who had
 

a '79 300D with some sort of arrangement which consisted of a second battery mounted on the left side of the cowl (symmetrical with the primary battery) and a 12 volt block heater controlled by a clock/timer and a knob or two on the far left of the dash. I assume that the rig also included an electronic switching device in the circuits from the alternator, like those used in motor homes, so that the batteries could be brought back up to full charge separately without overcharging one or the other. Here in Virginia he never needed it, and I never did find out whether it was a regular M-B option for northern climates (it seemed very much like a factory installation) or an aftermarket addition. I don't know any brand name to help your search, either. Sorry. Perhaps my wife's cousin in Sweden would know about such gadgets.

12 Volt Heaters
 

I know that in the RV world you can get heaters that are used for the water tanks. they are designed like a heating pad but they do draw a lot of current. You'd need to get a heavy RV deep cylce battery to run one I think.

One last ditch attempt at keeping the engine out of the wind alltogether would be to cut a piece of cardboard and put it right behind the grille. That way, the cold air won't penetrate under the hood as easily. When I lived in Cleveland and worked a mile from Lake Erie, I always kept a piece of cardboard in the car if I ever had to take such measures. Funny though, I never used it. My car (old Eduardo) always started right up. Although I do know of guys who used to use the cardboard with the old W115 diesels. They were sloooow starters.

Go to www.espar.com They make diesel and gasoline fired on-board heaters. They are optionally programmable to come on at specified temps and/or times. The smallest model supposedly uses a cup of diesel fuel an hour and can heat the engine in 2-3hrs. They are not cheap but you could always move it from car to car when you sell the current ride or sell it outright to absorb some of the costs. They look like really nice units. RT

Question about the heater block cord...would any flat three prong cord be a ok replacement for the one on my 79 240D? Mine has a nick in it on one of the three wires. I havent tried to plug it in yet, im in NC and have not had any trouble yet with cold starts, although it has been tough lately, the temps have been in the lower teens.
Thanks,Paul.

I recently bought a stand alone propane heater that is designed to run off he short fat one pound propane bottles. I bought it at Home Depot for $80 but they are available just about everywhere nowadays including Harbor Freight. You could put it on the ground under the engine compartment and unless the wind was blowing furiously (in which case some blockage of the wind would be necessary) it should warm the engine up enough to start it.

I heard of somebody here had a generator in the trunk, then had a block heater for the engine and a space heater for him.