has anyone ever added a second cooling fan beside the original one? i was thinking i might add my spare one to run on a temp switch to further cool the condesor. has anyone ever attempted this? i noticed the newer 300ds and 300e's have 2. anyone wanna chime in and tell me if i shoud or shouldnt. i also plan to do the 120a alt. upgrade before doing this.

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

I was just going to mention a stronger alternator... make sure you upgrade the wiring too. With dual fans 134A may work a bit better...

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

im not planning to use 134 though. im still running r12. i just wanna make things cool even better. now ideally a parallel flow condensor and two fans would make for some cold vent temps.

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

I'm suprised there aren't any direct swap parallel flow condensors yet for these cars, it's make a potential conversion a lot better.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

there are parallel flow condesors for these cars. but the lines running to them will need to mods. there are a few forum members that have done this mod.

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

But they're still not a "turn key" sort of kit... having to find parts to be made slows you down and makes you not want to deal with it.

I can only imagine a parallel flow with R12.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Before going to the effort and expense of adding the second cooling fan, consider replacing your existing electric fan and the viscous clutch on the engine fan. I recently replaced both on my 300SDL and I've been pleased with the cooling results. My car ran close to 90 before, but now runs almost at 80, even on warm days.

The electric fan in front, which is triggered by the refrigerant temperature, goes bad over time. I connected both the old one and the replacement to a 12V supply and was amazed at the difference! The old one ran like the cabin fan at low, while the new one ran like the cabin fan at high!

The viscous fan clutch on the engine fan tends to leak toward the end of its life. If you check the front of your fan and see a lot of dirt and grease, it's a sure bet that clutch is going.

The only problem with this is that the clutch and fan cost a lot of $$, even on FastLane. Since they are mission-critical, I would not buy them from eBay sellers. The electric fan is easy to replace. The viscous fan clutch either requires removal of the radiator, or a special stubby 8mm allen socket. I know this applies to the OM603 and M103 engines, and I believe the OM617 has something similar.

Also, make sure your cooling system is up to snuff. Not only does it remove heat from the engine, but it also removes heat from your refrigerant. When I replaced the radiator in my old 240D, I noticed a significant drop in the AC temperature to where it almost cooled the cabin. I really encourage you to ensure all the factory systems are working as designed before adding additional items.

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Casey Cooper
"From a long line of Mercedes ownership"

'86 300SDL 250K miles (Gone, but not forgotten); best diesel I have ever driven, too bad about the Achilles heel.

'81 240D 370K miles (Sold to my brother after 9 years and 150K miles of reliable driving!)

[Five other Mercedes in family clipped for less length.]

ccooper is right about making other stuff work well first. However, I've also thought of doubling up on those fans. There's certainly enough room there - I've held up another to it and convinced myself that the original only needs to move over and down maybe 2".

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

my fan clutch is good,and so is my old electric fan. it runs just as good as a new one. as for the expense,i already have a spare fan just like it and i could get a temp switch for very little. this isnt to pick up the slack where the rest of the system isnt working,its to help get things even cooler(mainly the condesnsor) the cooling system works great,i have a 3month old radiator in it and i have flushed the whole system

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

what the fans draw but the above post regarding upgrading your alternator may be worth looking into before doing the conversion. or perhaps you could just put it on a switch so you could turn it off and on.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

thats the plan.

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

I figure 1A per 1" of diamter...

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

FWIW, my wife's car has a mod where the recirc is always on for the AC. I cannot imagine needing a cooler AC. On the hiway at 97 and muggy last week, I had to turn the fan on low manually it got so cold. Even in heavy traffic the same day I was comfortable.

Maybe that mod would be easier than an extra fan.

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1984 300Sd 210k

Former cars:
1984 300D 445k (!!) (Strider) Original (and not rebuilt) engine and transmission. Currently running on V80 ( 80% vegetable oil, 20% petroleum products). Actually not, taking a WVO break.
1993 300d 2.5 275k. Current 120/day commuter
1981 300SD 188k (Hans) Killed by a deer