Shortly after I bought my 82 300D in 1985, I cut a piece of aluminum window screen and installed it in front of the radiator (and in front of the electric fan). It also covers the oil cooler. It is easy to remove and clean. All you have to do is raise the hood/grille, pull out the screen and flush it with water. I cut it carefully so that it has tabs that hold it in place. You also have to cut a round hole in the middle of the screen so that the electric fan's center section doesn't rub on the screen.

Granted, I probably lost a very small amount of air flow through the radiator because of the screen, but I don't have any problem with blockage or restriction of the air passages through the radiator, ac condensor or oil cooler. No overheating problems at all.

It's a pretty good piece of preventative maintenance and only cost a couple bucks.

Wes

Just an update to my fears that my 300D was running hot. Since I cleaned the radiator both inside and outside and cleaning the condenser as good as I could the temp droped to an acceptable level. I was happy. Well last week as I was getting ready for my first trip in this car and checking everything again I found that the left cooling fan didn't come on every time. I removed the fans (not fun) to see if there was anything I could do. Well, I found 1 thing I didn't like, and 1 thing I didn't understand. When I removed the fan mod, I found that the lower 1/3 of the condenser was completely blocked by debre that couldn't be seen with out removal of the fans. Of course I cleaned this out and cleaned the condenser from both sides this time. The thing I didn't understand was the only way for air to get to the condenser and radiator was through the fan openings only. The rest of the condenser was blocked by the cooling fan shroud. I left this shroud off, and installed two aftermarket electric fans I happened to have on hand using the original wiring. I just returned from a 500 mile round trip to Atlanta, Ga. and the engine ran about 85 deg C except when I was in heavy traffic or pulling a long hill at 80+mph it may go to 90 or 95 deg C. I am very pleased. Moral to the story, If you are having problems with a 2.5 turbo diesel running hotter then expected,
1. REMOVE the radiator and clean it with a strong cleaner and water.
2. REMOVE the cooling fan assembly and clean the condenser.
3. REMOVE the cooling fan shroud and throw it away then install some good aftermarket fans (much cheaper then original)
4. Replace the thermostat.
5. Put in a 40/60 mix of MB or Zerox G05.
6. Run cool.

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84 500 SEL (307,xxx miles)