E300D ´95 cooling problem?

Whenever you do heavy towing it is best to add another transmission cooler... it will extend the life of the transmission and reduce the wear and tear on engine... have you checked if you have enough tranny fluid?

Pulling a trailer makes the engine consume a lot more fuel and the radiator needs to shed the unused / wasted BTUs in that extra fuel so there's no wonder that the coolant temperature is higher than driving w/o the trailer.

I wouldn't be concerned about it so long as the temp remains below 120 degrees C.

You can clean the radiator's outside with a garden hose and nozzle or remove it and have the inside passages and the outside coils professionally cleaned by a radiator shop.

Of course, the electric radiator fans - which you didn't mention - should run when the coolant temp. exceeds 100 degrees C. Do they?

Yes, the car runs hotter when towing because it's working harder and the Tranny oil most likely does also go through the radiator. If your car has an oil cooler it should open and start cooling the oil at about

Marty

Is it normal that a diesel engine - even when running in the best torque interval - produces a relative more heat than a gasoline engine?

There is already a standard transmission oil cooler. But it could be an option. it ought to be able to cope with the temperatures. And yes, the tranni fluid is right at the check mark and the colour is also OK.

Could it be the engine oil that needs a cooler. I haven´t checked whether it is equipped with such...

Thanks for the advices

Jens

... have you checked if you have enough tranny fluid?

I know - and agree. I don´t know the abbreviation BTO - please explain :-)

Why not. This is still a pretty high temperature. If I´m going on vacation from Denmark (where I live) to Italy (round 1500 km) it is a lot of engine running hours with a temperature round 30C degrees over the normal.

Agree - some of the inside passages might be blocked. I´ll try to flush and clean the entire cooling circuit in near future just to eliminate this option. Otherwise it needs a new cooler - but from outside it looks in fine condition.

Yes, the normal cooler fan as well as the a/c fan works correctly

Correction: Is it normal that a diesel engine - even when running in the best torque interval - produces a relative more heat than a gasoline engine when under pressure / towing circumstances ?

I also have a Citroen Xantia 2,0i, (gasoline) automatic (no tranny oil cooler). This car hass less torque even at a higher RPM than my Mercedes. The Citroen needs to kick down more often when towing the same caravan/trailer at 85-90 km/h, but the temperature seldom increases - even in hot weather 30´C - with more than 5-10´C.

Anyone with a good explanation on the difference in behaviour between the Cit and the MB??

Jens

This could be the - or one of the - explanations

Thanks

Jens

"Jens Norking" haute in die Tasten:

The Xantia 2.0i 8 valve engine has its maximum torque of 178 NM at 2700 rpm. So it is not very promising to rev higher. Altogether the engine appears less powerful than it is, most Xantia engines have quite a bit more Oomph. I have a Xantia 2.0i and a BMW 325i with 230 NM of Torque and 170 HP. The Xantia feels less powerful than the BMW, but as a matter of fact it is only slightly slower.

Frank