I recently picked up a 2002 CLK430. I live in Canada and it regularly gets to -35 (Celcius AND Farenhiet) during the winter. An engine block heater is virtually required if you live here.

An engine oil heating pad just won't work because the design of the oil pan (ribbed). I have heard that most if not all Mercedes 320 engine produced after 2000 already have the block heater installed and you need merely buy the cord. Finding any info on the 430 V8 block heater proved elusive and mine certainly did not appear to have one installed. The install is virtually the same for the 320 engine with the exception of the lower rad hose length.

I was at a local auto wrecker and found a 2000 E320 with the factory Mercedes engine block heater and housing. The radiator is a different design than my CLK so the required lower radiator hose wouldn't fit.


For this installation you will need just a basic metric socket set and a catch basin.

Parts required:
MB block heater housing part MB #A112 203 00 61 and two 9mm mounting bolts.
2 2" hose clamps.
Block heater LR1843 (500watt version).
Coolant hose section MB# 210 501 53 82.
Block heater cable.

>> I CANNOT PROVIDE A PART NUMBER FOR THE LOWER RADIATOR HOSE AS I DID NOT FIND ONE FOR A 430 YET BUT HAVE NOT BEEN TO THE DEALER AS OF THIS TIME.<<




This the block heater housing with block heater installed and hose installed.



close up of MB part number of housing.



Block heater part number. Not sure of the make, could be ZeroStart but it's not made by MB but is distributed as a genuine part. There are three different models, 200watt, 300 watt and 500 watt.



There is a small 3" section of hose from the water pump to the housing.



Start by draining the radiator. There is a red knob you turn counterclockwise.



there is a small tube on the tank you can attach a hose to to lessen the mess made. I ust let it run out into a catch basin.



drain the rad, don't forget to open the rad cap on the degauss bottle or you'll be there a long time...



You can see the housing essentially eliminates the top elbow of the lower rad hose.


The Block heater housing tube is 1 3/4". The CLK lower rad hose necks down to 1.5" so cutting the lower hose to fit just isn't an option.



Remove the lower rad hose
insert the small hose section to the water pump. I attached it to the housing to make it easier.
install the two 9mm bolts, there are threaded bosses on the timing cover.
install the lower rad hose.
fill up the cooling system with the recovered coolant ( or replace the coolant at this time if need be).

I will update this post with more pictures and part numbers once I obtain the lower rad hose.

 

I think its nomenclature error. That is not a true block heater, its more of a radiator hose or inline cooling system heater. A block heater goes directly into the cylinder block and most always its in a welch or core plug hole and is the reason its called a block heater, yeah I'm fussy with nomenclature.

 

Good call. It is commonly referred to as a block heater but "engine heater" may have been a better term.


The engine heater fully assembled to check lower rad hose length. The CLK 430 and C55 W208 chassis has never come with a factory installed engine heater so there is no lower tad hose available to fit. I used a 1 3/8" piece of 90 degree bent exhaust tubing to clear the fan. I cut a lower rad hose from a 99 e230 used the the sections to join the engine heater housing to the exhaust tubing to the radiator.



This is the view of the assembly installed on the 430 engine just under the water pump. Cord and rad hose not connected. The crank pulls is visible just above and to the right of the housing.<br/>