Hi everyone hows it going? This is my first post in this forum and have joined due to a new addition. My brother bought an '85 300TD wagon in Tennessee and drove it all the way back to frigid central NY. In the colder weather the thing really has a hard time starting, it has taken us 10 minutes to start it in this colder weather and because of this we have not driven it much. I have a diesel VW Passat which starts right after the glow plug lights go out first time everytime. I tested the glow plugs and they lit up the tester light. Anyways I am just wondering if this is a common issue on these cars and what are my options to make this thing start easier or more reliably. I am trying to avoid a plug in block heater. On another forum I went on I think I heard of someone having a push button glow plug activator where you could hold it down as long as you needed. Is anyone familliar with this? Would my stock electrical system be able to handle this? Any other advice would be great! Thanks

 

Welcome and good luck with the new wagon.

I sometimes need to glow the plugs twice in very cold temps. You should do a valve adjustment and switch to a lighter weight or synthetic oil for winter. Cold, thick oil makes for tough starts due to low compression. Valve adjustments are vital to engine health, easy starts and less smoke. I would try these things prior to altering any stock systems.

Also, look in the owner's manual ... there's a cold weather start-up procedure that MB recommends. I believe it's 3 pushes on the pedal to the floor with a long glow and you should start right up.