[bennelson]

I brushed the snow off the car, jacked it up, and popped the hood.

It's a delightful 17℉ outside - the warmest it's been in a while.

I was able to dig around and find where the block heater was.

It was difficult to actually plug it in, as the connection was under the exhaust manifold and behind some other rod or hose.

Once in, I plugged the block heater into a Killawatt on an extension cord. Sure enough, the heater started pulling 375 watts.

The heater also makes a bit of a hissing or bubbling sound. Is that normal? When I have used the frost plug block heater in my S10, it's totally silent.


EDIT:
One hour, twenty minutes later - (the Killawatt tracks time too.)
I pulled the starter knob to the glow plug position, and let it charge up for 15 or 20 seconds.

Pulling the knob to run the starter, the car started right up. It did sound rather clangy for a little bit. I think diesels can run on just a cylinder or two before the others get warmed up, right?

I ran it for a minute or two, turned it off, then turned it back on. One the second start, it fired right up and sounded great.

Seems like this engine, running with a block heater, should fire right up in future winters.

I still need to get the whole thing in the truck, and also make sure it runs well on bio-diesel.


EDIT again:
Since I can now MOVE the Mercedes under its own power, I was able to move it over enough that I can park my truck next to it.

I have a long, narrow driveway - I wasn't able to get the Electro-Metro out of the garage before without having to move the truck every time!

Now I will be able to drive my electric car without having to play "driveway shuffle"!