umblecumbuz
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2010
- Messages
- 4,431
- Reaction score
- 1,875
- Location
- Wales and Gozo
- Your Mercedes
- S204 and CLC 204 cdi, MX5, Kia Soul
You can get blockages around the heater matrix. We have had a good few 203's with this. You have to back flush it (from drivers side to passenger side)
That's interesting.
But surely that would not affect the thermostat opening, or the temperature reading on the display?
With my 203, it's the slow engine warm up that's the pain. I need 6-10 miles before the heater begins to work normally. Once 85 degs shows, it's rock steady and the heater works fine.
On my 204 I have blanked off the grille - not the radiator - with a cutout sheet fixed behind it, much to Neyland MB's amusement as the receptionist thought that I'd hit something and got some cardboard debris lodged behind the grille!
In the Scandinavian group, radiator muffs are commonplace and main Dealers offer them. Stopping freezing air from howling through the radiator by muffing the grille is an accepted method of maintaining engine temperature.
A thermostat does not make heat. It only dissipates excess heat if any is there to dissipate. If the weather is too cold, then however efficient the 'stat is, the engine (and hence the heater) will not reach optimum operating temperature.
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