Peter,
In the photos on the website provided by old south, the reservoir is in the center of the hub pretty much where I imagined it. I can follow how the clutch works once the "valve" opens. It is how it gets the fluid back into the reservoir (through the hole backwards?) when the engine is shut off and cools or cools down any other way.
Once the fluid gets out of the center, through the hole and is pumped by centrifugal force (the plates speed the fluid up, giving it angular momentum as they spin) to the largest diameter of the plates. In my view the fluid will just drain to the bottom of the housing when the engine is shut off. I cannot figure out why it would then climb back up a few inches and, presuming the "valve" has closed or started to close, seek out the little hole, now filling with pin by the force of the bimetallic spring, and squeeze itself back into the reservoir. Bosons, maybe? (edit: no, even bosons would not climb up to a higher level and stay there...)
I do not mean to be irritating but I cannot figure this thing out and would have expected the unit to work better if it just had a certain fill, kind of like a torque converter, and nevermind about these bimetallic or memory shape alloy "controls" that never last. My old dishwasher had one (more like 4 or 5 in its 20 year life) of those for dispensing the detergent. In the hot, humid environment inside the door, with electricity running through them to heat them up, they would corrode pretty quickly and stop working. I gave up and just poured the detergent in there for the last 10 years. Thanks, Jim
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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles
Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)
Last edited by JimSmith; 06-18-2003 at 08:42 PM.
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