I have no experience with these on a Mercedes diesel (living in the mild PNW now), but when I was living in upstate NY I installed a hose heater on my Volvo 122S. I would power it up when I got up in the morning, leaving it on for about an hour. The car would start right up and the heater and defroster would blow warm as soon as the engine started up. Installation was easy. As long as the heater was installed vertically convection would carry the heated water throughout the engine in short order.
I can't imagine anything better or easier than this for an add-on. Greg -----Original Message----- From: mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On Behalf Of Chris N John Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 8:27 AM To: mercedes@okiebenz.com Subject: [MBZ] hose heater versus block heater?!! Hi, everyone We too are having issues with our car starting this winter (1980 300 SD). Hubbie put about 4 different hose heaters on it last winter. The last one finally worked once or twice. (We won't mention the local car parts store) We tried it again in November and it seemed to be doing fine and then the morning we had appointments to keep 80 miles away and temp was -20, guess what? Yep-- it didn't work at all. We made it to appointments, but used up our "easy" travel margin of time for sure!! So, my question is: the block heaters sound more dependable and efficient but hubbie is concerned about problems installing in the old car. He thinks it will be hard to seal up after removing the old plug, which seems to be another big concern, too. Any feedback from you experts? Should we keep trying the hose heaters, and is there one that really works long term?? Thanks for advice! Wishing you all a Wonderful Christmas Season and a Great New Year to come, Christy _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
