seahonu

I'm still getting to know my 05 E320 CDI. I noticed reading in the Operators Manual of this heater booster system to provide cabin heat before the engine is warm/hot. Why is it only on the diesel that have this feature, heater booster system? Is it because diesels are more efficient and thus put out less "waste", ie. heat in comparison to gas/petrol engines? Meaning less "waste" would be less heat generated, ie. insufficient for heating the cabin?

lkchris

A gasoline engine burns a 14.7-to-one air/fuel ratio at all speeds.

A diesel air/fuel ratio varies with engine speed and at idle can be as much as 150-to-one. Not much fuel burned equals not much heat.

240D 3.0T

Modern diesels are very efficient and put little heat into the coolant.

VW TDI's with the Pumpe Duse engine actually have glowplugs in the coolant to get the engine warm faster.

seahonu

Wow, I hadn't realized how efficient diesels are! Learn something new, esp. about the diesel fuel to air ratio. Cool!

cdiken

Motor takes a long time to warm up.


The instant heat is nice. Even though the gassers warm up faster, even they don't warm up as fast as an electric coil.....ironic that the MB diesel drivers actually get hot heat before gas engine drivers.

harkgar

If it takes so long for diesels to heat up in the winter then the A/C should be really cool in the summer, right?

erh7771

I wish...the AC cooling quickness depends more on the size of the compressor etc.

lxl_Jeffro_lxl

Mine doesn't take long for the AC Temp to cool down, usually around 1 minute.

Winter time, it takes about 5 minutes of constant driving to get it around 80C

harkgar

Can you explain why the air-box and filter is on the passenger side and the intake manifold on the driver's side in your car? It seems a very convoluted way to route air into the engine.

I noticed the same in my CDi. Should the intake not be as short and as cool as possible?

harkgar

Your car is pristine. It is a keeper.

240D 3.0T

It's because the intercooler passes from the turbo (passenger side) to the intake (drivers side). The intercooler is what cools the air after the turbo heats it from compression.

harkgar

Do you have a photo of your intercooler?

240D 3.0T

Here ya go. I've improved it, especially the cosmetics, since these photos were taken.

lxl_Jeffro_lxl

Well, my car is a turbo diesel....so I'm assuming that the intake is on the passenger side of the car so it has room for the airbox and the turbo. Then the boosted air goes through intercooler piping near the bottom of the front bumper and then to the other side into the intake. So it seems very like a very reasonable design.

Thanks

harkgar

Mr. 240 D,

That is amazing! The intercooler is sitting right behind that large MB grill ready to be cooled. Nobody can see it either and cosmetics is not a problem at all. Jaguars of the same vintage, especially the V-12 engines were boiling over all the time.

harkgar

Can you see your intercooler from under the car? I cannot see mine. Is yours similar to 240 D's modified engine?

gtl diesel

Not always. I have driven Volvo's for the last 30+ years. On the coldest winter day -in New York City- it never took more than 3 or 4 blocks of driving before heat started to come through. No other car I have ever owned (and I've owned about 100 of them) has ever done this.