Cool Coolant C270 CDi

[Captain Flack]

It's been cold today, so cold in fact that this morning on the way to work my coolant temperature never rose above 50c at any point during my journey. It was -3c outside all the way to work, but I expected the water temperature to be higher as most of the ten mile journey is at 50-60mph. I know that diesels do run cooler, but does anyone else with the same engine, have similar measurements?

The booster heater is also working and I assume does so until the coolant reaches around 70c. Does this mean that it will be running permanently under these conditions? I'm driving from Sussex to the Isle of Skye on Friday and don't want to be using extra fuel on the booster heater.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Jules

 

[alec2]

I have a c220 CDI and under freezing conditions it takes at least 10 miles if not more to get to normal operating temperature.

Modern diesels are more efficient and hence produce less waste heat. Also larger engines have larger thermal mass hence take longer to heat up.

You can always turn off the supplementary engine heater, the instructions are in the manual.

Alec

 

[television]

Some folk dont like the idea and frown upon it,its so simple, just a piece of cardboard behind the grill, blanking 1/3 of the rad, works wonders,engine runs at 85c you have a gauge to monitor. All that can happen is that the fan will start up and cool it.

Had it there in Sweden,forgot to take it out in the UK and never had a problem.

Malcolm

 

[IAN MAC]

I'll have a guess and say either your thermostat is on its way out, or the radiator fan is running all the time.
You should reach working temperature however cold it is. Lets face it, -3 isn't that bad.

 

[Captain Flack]

Thanks all for the feedback. It's definitely not the fans running so I suspect that it's either the thermostat or a normal feature of this engine(ie needs more time to reach operation temperature below freezing).

I'll be driving to Carlisle non-stop on saturday so the engine will have enough time to warm up properly. According to Autodata, the thermostat change takes around three hours so I'll look at that as a last resort.

Thanks again.

Jules

 

[Mike J]

Captain
I had the Thermostat on my E220 CDI changed last year by an indi. Part cost £26.00 and was charged 1/2 hrs Labour all plus VAT.
Mike