I pulled the radiator for the second weekend in a row. It is much easier the second time.
I can’t imagine replacing the fan clutch on my car without pulling the radiator. I have the one piece fan shroud and that by itself is in the way. I know it’s possible to do without removing the radiator, but I like to have some room when I work. I remove the intake manifold to change the glow plugs also.
Once the radiator is out of the way the clutch is as easy as can be. I didn’t purchase the special tool to grip the pulley on the water pump and I’m glad I didn’t ($70 savings). I was able to use a small bar to keep enough pressure on the water pump to pull the bolt out of the clutch.
The fan is a direct bolt up (as mentioned earlier in this thread) to the Om606 clutch (606 200 01 22) which costs 98.48 at All Parts Express.
When I went to install the new clutch, I could not get the bar in where I had before. The clutch design is different from the OM603 clutch. So I just grabbed the pulley and belt on the water pump with my left hand and tightened the clutch with my right. The spec is 45Nm which is just over 33 foot pounds. It seemed too easy, so I loosened it with the same method and retorqued it again. I don’t have super human strength so 33 foot pounds just aren’t that hard to hold I suppose. So far it hasn’t fallen off.
As for the test: I got the temp gauge up to 90° and immediately pulled over and pushed the stop lever under the hood. The fan came to a stop within one second. I didn’t time it, but it was pretty damn fast.
So I believe with the clean radiator, condenser and the new clutch, my days of seeing 115° on the passes are over.