Diesel RVs: Re: [diesel_mercedes] Cold Weather Starting Drill

Sub zero? Celsius? In the manual for my 1959 190D it stated you could add about 40% gasoline to the fuel for a winter mix, I never did it tho, we have winterized diesel,which used to be a 50/50 blend of #2 diesel and #1 stove oil, it also stated "It is generally impossible to start the car at temps below 20 degrees F". Thats 20 above zero. Good thing these cars start easier. Tho I would not even attempt to start my 240's at anything even close to zero unless they were plugged in or unless I was in trouble. Max P.S. back in the 70's and 80's it would get to -20F every single winter here, -30 once,now it barely hits zero , still cold for diesel tho.

On Mon, Feb 1, 2016 at 6:21 AM, vwnate1@yahoo.com [diesel_mercedes] <diesel_mercedes@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

O.K. ;

It's in the owners manual :

Depress and release the throttle several times then cycle the glow plugs twice , waiting for the light to go out before the second cycle and again before you operate the starter .

Never , EVER operate the starter when the glow plug warning lamp is lit .

Once you begin to crank the engine , hold the throttle to the floor and as the engine begins to cough and try to start , do not let off the throttle nor the key until it's running on all five cylinders (four if you own a 240D) ~ once it has started and is revving up , you may ease off the throttle *just* enough to keep the engine from racing .

Adding any of the commercially available Winter Diesel fuel additives helps a great deal too .

You're already using thin oil , that's important as it helps the engine crank easier in extreme cold weather .

It takes a bit of practice but once it lights off in the sub zero temps you'll gain confidence .

If possible , adding a coolant heater to the lower radiator hose or any sore of radiating heat under the engine or even under the hood will also help ..

IIRC you already did the routine valve adjustment , that's probably the # 1 thing to help cold starting any time of year .

If the voltage regulator on the back of the alternator doesn't say ' BOSCH ' on it, you're never going to have a properly charged battery , I know this is the hell of a time of year to change it but it really does make a large difference in battery charging and available power for cold starting .

None of this is difficult but ALL of it is very important as you're using 1940's Technology and it requieres a certain amount of finesse that modern vehicles don't . the rewards are many , the frustrations can be great if you don't follow the steps and pay close attention to what your particular 35 year old Mercedes wants and needs .

-Nate
ML wrote :

Nate, I did do a search for how to do this, and all involve pre-heating of some sort (heat air, oil, coolant etc),and I just improvised on what I thought would be helpful with what I had. I really liked the idea on draining about 2 quarts oil from the oil pan, heating it and putting it back - not something one wants to do everytime though.

I do not recall seeing any procedure/drill specifically listed by MB. If you have it or know where I can find it, please let me know. Tia.

MJ

1984 300sd