O.K. , Tom's 1987 300SDL has been running warm / hot going up hills ever since he bought it , in time (in Waldorboro ,MAINE , actually) I found some red RTV plugging up the cooling system , removed it (BIG PIA There) and after he got back to Los Angeles I began looking for another cylinder head as the original ones had casting flaws and were simply too thin to accept planing of the sealing surface when they failed .
In time I found a (IIRC) $46 head and sent it out for rebuilding (about $285 I think) and replace the cam followers , installed it and all was well sort of ~ it'd still have temperature rise going up steep hills with the AC on , not enough to ever require the heater to cool it off but anyway sufficient to switch off the AC going up hills .
I'd noticed the fan clutch having very little resistance regardless of temperature and looked OnLine to find nice new German ones for $380 +/- , he's a cheapskate (IMO) and bought a Chinese one from AutoZone for $45 and I installed it easily in his Man Cave's driveway .
All I had to do was pull the plastic fan shroud's clips off so he could hold it back 30 MM or so then I was able to snake my hand down in between the fan and the radiator with a long 8MM Allen wrench , removed the single bolt holding the fan and clutch assembly to the water pump's hub and ever so carefully with drew it so I could then remove the three 10MM ATM bolts holding the fan to the clutch assy.
As ' Flat Rate ' jobs go it was pretty easy ~ he claimed his hand got burned when he touched it but I didn't have any troubles apart from a small gash that bled a bit , this (to me anyway) is part and parcel of the glamorous highly paid job of being a Mechanic is no no worries .
I don't really know a whole heck of a lot about fan clutches but this seems to have done the trick ~ all day Saturday was spent in the hills far far behind my pokey old Diesel Sports Coupe and he said the temp. never went up so he's happy .
I was under the impression that fan clutches do nothing above 35 MPH , at last that's what all my various Factory and Dealer Training said forty years ago.....
Still learning , if you have an fan clutch equipped car , pop the hood after a hard hot run (shut the engine off of course) and try to spin the fan blades with your finger ~ as soon as you stop pushing , the fan should stop turning , no 1/4 turn before coming to rest .
Also , *gently* rock the fan in and out by the tip of one blade you're not allowed more than .20" wobble else the clutch is going bad and will soon do you dirt .
-Nate
Posted by: vwnate1@yahoo.com
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