I have a 92 300 TE. I know it has been real cold lately, but my heater just doesn't get real hot. I bought this car out of FL about a month ago, where it had lived its whole life and brought it here to the cold winters of W.Va.

The water temp gauge never gets past 80 C and ususally runs a fair amount below that. I was just wondering if that is the normal operating temp for a 300E with the 103 engine?

thanks,

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prop up the faith,
whutchens

Replace the thermostat. The engine should run a needles width above 80deg in any weather. (except Florida summers where it might get hotter)

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

my temp gauge sits on 80 most of the time but runs slightly below at speed (70-80mph +). I get plenty of heat though.

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1993 320TE M104
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past:

1983 230E W123 M102
1994 E300D S124 OM606 (x2)
1967 250SE W108 M129
1972 280se 3.5 W108 M116
1980 280SE W116 M110
1980 350SE W116 M116
1992 300E W124 M103
1994 E280 W124 M104
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"music and women I cannot but give way to, whatever my business" -Pepys

The heater should work from about 40deg on up. It will do real good up around 80. The problem with cars with poor thermostats is that not only do they not get to proper temp, they heat up slowly which makes heaters take 3-4 or more times longer to be effective. (I must say I have a poor experience wth heaters as I never see weather lower than 25deg F.).

I would also say that the car will not like running cooler than it is supposed to. Newer cars will set fault codes for not reaching operating temp within a certain time.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

Failing open seems to be a common failure with these thermostats (guess that's better than failing closed!). Last winter (around 0 degrees centigrade is about as cold as it gets here in winter) I noticed our 300TE taking forever to warm up, and only then reaching less than 80. A new thermostat fixed it. I have done several others with similar faults. Testing old thermostats against new ones in a pan of water on a stove reveals that they still appear to function, just at a lower temperature.

That temperature gauge tells a lot about what's going on. All of ours normally sit just above 80 (I estimate around 85). Only in heavy traffic in our Aussie summers or climbing a mountain pass heavily laden on a hot day will the gauge get up over 100.

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107.023: 350SLC, 3-speed auto, icon gold, parchment MBtex (sold 2012 after 29 years ownership).
107.026: 500SLC, 4-speed auto, thistle green, green velour.
124.090: 300TE, 4-speed auto, arctic white, cream-beige MBtex.
201.028: 190E 2.3 Sportline, 5-speed manual, arctic white, blue leather.
201.028: 190E 2.3, 4-speed auto, blue-black, grey MBtex.
201.034: 190E 2.3-16, 5-speed manual, blue-black, black leather.

i agree with the previous posts, the thermostat probably got stuck in the open position... happened to my friend's 318i last winter... as a temporary measure you can increase the output by pushing the air recirculation button...

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95 M3 (US)
94 318is (EURO)
87 190E 2.6

The thermostat on our 190E 2.6 broke in the closed position. The temp ran a little hotter than normal (100C) and my Dad was driving it to the dealer to have it checked. As he drove into the parking area for service, the metal (yes, not plastic) thermostat housing blew into bits and the system lost coolant. Picked a good place to happen!

That's the first one I've seen break in the closed position.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

You should also check your auxiliary water pump for proper operation. If this pump is not working as it should, you will have less heat at idle/slow speed.
We had a minus 41deg. last week and the inside temperature was nice and worm on automatic fan setting (low). I drove 150 with only a t-shirt on.
Engine temp. was a cosntant 100deg.
JackD