MBDriver

For a 83 300SD turbo diesel, what would be the highest temp that it could hit and still be considered normal? It is my dads car and I drove it about a week ago and it was a pretty hot day. I had the a/c running and when i exited the freeway I immediatly start to go up a pretty steep hill. It was fine while going up the hill (about 95 degrees) until i reached the top. It suddenly shoots up to about 110. I checked the coolant level and it was full.

egxpimp

hmm that happens to me as welll....maybe its normal....im not sure sorry bud

MBDriver

I'm not sure if its normal because I have a 2002 E 320 and it goes up as well but its never hit 110 before. I dont drive this car a lot and my dad never keeps an eye on the temp gauge so he doesnt know.

egxpimp

Steam clean ur engine bay and ur car will run alot cooler... i just got mine done about a week ago and my car runs alot cooler now and stays cooler all the time at 80C.

MBDriver

Thx for the advice. Did you have to go to the dealer for this or any shop that offers it is good enough?

egxpimp

any good car wash will do the job fine, make sure they cover the cosmetic stuff on the car like were the spark plugs are connected to the rotor or whatever it is .

MBDriver

Ok, thx for the advise. Ill have it done soon, hopefully the car runs colder. How hot was your car running before you had it done?

egxpimp

around 80-85ish but thats when i was running on the freeway after i got off the freeway or drove local it would go up to 100

w123_w126

The temp can go as high as “119,” if you will – there’s not magic number where damage will occur, anything at or above 120 is bad news. But that’s not the issue, you need to get the temp back down to 85 or so like the rest of us. Cleaning the engine bay may or may not work but I’d check to make sure the aux fan is working and when was the last time the coolant was flushed and change? – there may just be a clog in the cooling system.

MBDriver

But how come it is normal going on the freeway but shoots up only on hills? Wouldnt it heat up regardless if coolant cant get through the system? BTW, the coolant level was fine because after I got back to the car from class I checked it and it was right on the level it should be.

w123_w126

The engine is under much less stress on the highway at 70 mph; it’s in fourth gear with relatively low rpms. On an incline, however, the engine must work much harder, perhaps in third gear. The rpms are higher, load and friction greater and the temp spikes. A sub par cooling system will keep the engine cool at highway speeds where an incline will cause it to over heat. Failure of the aux fan can cause a cooling system in otherwise good condition to struggle.

MBDriver

Well thx for your help. Ima tell my dad to get it done but I mentioned it to him yesterday and he was sort of indifferent. I'm the only one in my family to care about our cars. Ill tell him once, if he doesnt listen then I dont care. I think when he melts down an engine or two he will know when to follow my advice.

egxpimp

i feel you ..im in the same situation lol nobody cares about our cars only i do

but ur love for ur special car keeps u going dosent it ? lol when im not with my gf im doing hw when im done doing hw its car time lol find any lil thing wrong with it and fix it even if its a lil scratch lol
aite im weird lol talk to u guys later, late
take care
enrique

MBDriver

Yea something like that. I just hate it when ppl neglect their car and expect it to last. If you take care of it, it will run better and longer. Every problem that any of our cars have had (either ones we own now or have owned in the past) I have warned him about and been right, but he wouldnt care much until it got pretty bad.