W203 Poor heater

[steviewestlea]

Hi,
My 52 plate W203 C270 CDI seems to have poor output from the heater. I have reset the flaps and I have seem to have air everywhere I would expect it, blower is working fine, however the heater is warmish but not very hot. Even with the heater set to max and on manual with the blower flat out its never too hot or uncomfortable, just warmish. Takes a while to defrost windows etc but just doesn't seem to be producing enough heat. Is this normal ? Where should I start looking to troubleshoot ? I've discounted faulty sensors because it isn't any better on manual. Any help out there ?
Another fault I have is that I can only ever get cold air out of the face level vents, central and side.

Thanks
Regards
Steve

 

[television]

Hi Steve At what temperature is the engine running at

 

[steviewestlea]

Thanks for the reply.
Mmm, my normal operating temp is around 70 according to dash display. Looking at other posts I suspect that it should be nearer 80. Would you advise changing the thermostat, I assume that there are no longer summer and winter thermostats, is it easily located and a DIY job?

Any help on cold air only from the face level vents? According to the handbook the rear passengers vents will get the same temp as the front, so only cold at the moment?

Regards
Steve

 

[television]

70° C is not that warm once the fan has started to move the air through the matrix.

Its always hard to get diesel temps up in the winter, and the post do start to come in at this time of the year.

You could change the thermostat but that is no guarantee that it would be much warmer. I used to blank part of the rad with a piece of cardboard and many others have done the same with acceptable results, you have the temp gauge in the car to see what is going on,,if a sudden change in the weather made the engine too hot one only has to put the heater on full and it will take it right down again quickly.

They only make a thermostat with a 92° C range of delivery

 

[wireman]

The central vents only supply cold. I think that you should change your thermostat since prolonged running at low temperature is not exactly benficial to the engine or fuel consumption. Expect it to be more than 80, more like 90 degrees, even more after a real good thrashing.

 

[duncanh]

Expect it to be more than 80, more like 90 degrees, even more after a real good thrashing

My 2002 c220cdi usually gets up to 80 degrees after a good long run.

The only time it has ever goes above 80 is when I have 1 ton of caravan behind.

 

[dragon]

............or waiting in the traffic.

 

[steviewestlea]

Thanks for the replies, unsure whether or not to change the thermostat now, seems to be reading about right acording to the post above. Went to buy one at lunchtime, Europarts only sell the complete housing with stat, £26 + VAT, do GSF do one, or would you recommend a dealer part?

Regards
Steve

 

[HelpThisDude]

My C270 CDi is running very cold. I get a faint bit of heat from the heaters, but nothing like it should be. The best the engine manages is 50 - 60 Deg C. Taking into account my daily commute is 2 hours of constant running at 60mph, the ambient temp since I bought the car has been about 2 - 7 deg C.
I tried the old 'card-under-the-grill' trick, it made about 5 deg difference. Im trying to get the best MPG i can, and running a Diesel cold is not helping.
Is it worth the claimed 2 hours labour? anyone had one changed and noticed the difference?

 

[simon winn]

I am getting my thermostat changed today along with ANOTHER injector on a 320 cdi!!!! Wil let you know the outcome - car never gets over 70.

 

[HelpThisDude]

What was the outcome Simon? Any better?

 

[tikw2124]

Steve,

be wary of purchasing one from Eurocarparts. I did last year and after removing old one, i noticed there was a small off-take pipe on original which wasn't on replacement. On contacting ECP and giving them the VIN (again!) i was told they were unable to get me one. Eventually got from MB £30 ish. Mine used to hover around 60 Deg C bnut since new one fitted, will get upto 90 but only after 20+ miles. Good luck.

Thanks for the replies, unsure whether or not to change the thermostat now, seems to be reading about right acording to the post above. Went to buy one at lunchtime, Europarts only sell the complete housing with stat, £26 + VAT, do GSF do one, or would you recommend a dealer part?

Regards
Steve

 

[jberks]

What was the outcome Simon? Any better?

ditto - my 270 never gets above 65-70 these days. If its worth the effort I may pop a new stat in - otherwise I'll be chopping up a cardboard box. Seems a rediculous thing to do on a 4 yr old merc though and I don't remember this issue when I got it so something must have changed.

 

[HelpThisDude]

It is a rediculous thing to do but as a temp fix I have blocked up 70% of the lower bumper inlet too, now I get 80 - 90DegC.
Just got quoted 3.5h labour from an indi. I remember the days when it took 20min to change a stat..... I dont even know where to look for the housing on this. Anyone with pictures? I might give it a go myself ...eventually.

 

[television]

Its 41 in the link

http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.as...648716.649&CT=M&cat=21T&SID=20&SGR=015&SGN=01

 

[HelpThisDude]

Stupid question, is the housing right next to the oil FILTER cap? Thats the closest item I can see to 41 in the link. If so, why is it so hard to change, it looks straight forward? What have I misssed?

 

[television]

It is not like normal car and comes all complete in the housing. Why not leave the rad part blanked off, you have a temp gauge to keep an eye on things

 

[whitenemesis]

My car gets up to 80degC within about 10min, with very warm air from the heater within approx 5min.

Unless there is a fault with my engine (I know there is none), it would suggest the thermostat is stuck open. Or some other part of the management system is faulty.

It regularly gets much colder than here in Stuttgart this time of year!

 

[HelpThisDude]

I have the part now. £25.29+VAT from MB. It looks a straight forward change. . . .

 

[Dannyboy201062]

Stat change on `02 C270 CDI

Hi All, was in the same position as yourselves...running cool , poor heater.
Stat cost 56 Euro ( Non MB ) and is an alloy housing with stat built in .It is a fiddly job, not a lot of space , it helped to tie it in with an oil / oil filter change . More space with the filter cap and filter removed. Be careful not to spill coolant into the recess. Access to bolts is difficult . I posted a thread about it . Was happy with the result .....fuel consumption didn`t change much....was o.k. before but the heater was much better. It takes a good few miles to get up to temp. even with a good stat.

Regards..........Dannyboy