Phil
Let me say what an excellent experiment - real world and no matter what principles lay behind the differences, PROVES that the your vfc sample will lock up as quoted by MB - thanks. These results don't just 'appear' condictory, they are - fact! And are as a result of looking at the bigger picture.....
Theory is ok upto a point but you can't beat actually carrying out testing in my opinion.
My vfc construction is identical to yours Phil, in terms of horizontal play see my piccies
here. The strip is under pressure and already slightly bent forcing downwards on the pin even at room temperature. There is no horizontal movement.
I know that my vfc operates as yours Phil and that my engine stays cooler due to the vfc operation only - nothing to do with tstat variations in international models. But I'm sure we're still all pondering why those W140 owners fail to see their vfcs lock before the aux fans switch on - or do they?
Maybe we should start a poll for 119 engines?
Jim, when you say before the aux fans switch on, do you mean stage 1 or 2? In my posts I'm always referring to stage 2 as when driving I can't tell if the fans reach stage 1.
Just as a technical note for the benefit of others can we refer to the 'oil' within the clutch as silicone - it's not oil. Don't wish to sound pedantic but when I stared learning about clutches this really confused me. Ta