I have a 1982 300 TDT. It has 396,000 miles (637,000 km) on it and has the original engine. It is getting hard to start when its cold outside, in part because of the new (to us in the U.S.) Ultra Low Sulfer Diesel. Apparently sulfer lowers the flash point of the fuel, so the new fuel has a higher flash point and, in my car at least, seems to be harder to atomize at low temperatures.
I found a source on-line for an injector tube heater kit and bought the kit. It was $40 and should have been $10 for what it is, but that is another subject. The guy who sells them says you can't use solder to connect the pieces of heating wire because "the solder will melt." I hope he is wrong, because that would mean that he is selling a kit that would put 400 degree F (200 degrees C) wire along the fuel lines, not far from the return lines that are made of some kind of rubber like synthetic. This sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.
But I would like to get some sort of heating unit for the fuel lines, as my car starts fine when I put a hair dryer under the hood and blow hot air on the injector tubes for an hour or so.
I can probably get a rheostat and use a thermometer and design an augmented version of the kit I bought from FattyWagons which will warm the fuel but also maintain a safe temperature, but I am wondering if anyone else has a suggestion or recommendation for a system for pre heating the injector tubes.
I know people running vegetable oil have to have some way of pre heating their fuel.
Thanks.