Refill of Viscous Sachs Fan Clutch, 87 300D
 

I've owned my 87 300D for about 14 years. This will be the 3rd time I have added 12,500 cst silicone oil to the viscous fan clutch. Mine is stamped Sachs. I took pictures and documented the procedure. Note that others on this forum have done the similar re-fills. So search the forums for additional information and procedures.

More pictures of the procedure

Is it possible to host these photos somewhere and display full size?

Nice work!

They should open to full size if you click on any of them. Does that work for you? If not, you can send me an instant message here at Peach Parts and we can work together to get you full size pictures.

Yes but that’s a hassle. PP hosts photos horribly. They would be better off hosted elsewhere like Imgur and just posted full size in the thread.

The photos are fine, no problem opening them. Question: rather than heating the clutch, could you just have used a syringe with a large gauge needle?

They open fine, you just have to open each one individually.

If they were hosted, and img code used, they would display full size inline in the thread.

I’ve seen other folks fill them via a small hole and syringe.

Interesting to see the RC car oil as it's good to see some other sources, most tutorials have specified oil from Toyota dealerships. I got lazy on the sourcing as I live way out in the country, and just ordered a new "heavy duty" clutch as they are supposed to have better lockup characteristics.

This is US Motor Works 22301 and was a drop in replacement for around $80. Pretty happy with its performance.

However I still have the old one in my junk heap so maybe I should fish it out and fix it as a spare!

Just a note from someone who has done a lot of work with IR cams, thermal scanning etc. as well as radiant heating systems. Infrared thermometers work TERRIBLY on aluminum and other reflective surfaces. This is because those surfaces do not radiate significant IR. If you put up a radiant heating surface with the aluminum fins on pipe, it will not dissipate any heat until you cover it with some sort of wallboard. The aluminum fins conduct to the wallboard which then radiates. Weird hey?

With a thermal cam you can actually see your own reflection in a piece of bare aluminum or steel.

I would recommend using a lightweight thermocouple like used for HVAC work if you have one, or at the least use a paint pen to colour a spot in black. You'd be amazed how different the temperature reading is on black paint vs. reflective metal.