Hello!

I know that there are a few people who've put new fluid in the clutch for the engine-driven fan on OM617-powered cars. However, I'm at a point where I'm confused. I need to do this job, and have seen people talking about different methods of going about putting the fluid in. Someone once said that you should take out the bimetallic spring and the metering needle and put new fluid (the Toyota stuff) in the needle's hole via syringe until it was full; however, others have said that you shouldn't do it this way and should instead open the unit up and add it in with the unit apart. I think that other methods have been outlined.

With the weather warming up, I really want to get my fan cluthc working as it should. So, my question is this. Does anyone by chance have a write-up on the job? If not, what's the "right" way? If the unit needs to be taken apart, how does one go about doing so?

Any thoughts would be appreciated...thanks in advance!

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2001 VW Jetta TDI, 5 speed, daily driver
1991 Ford F-350, work in progress
1984 Ford F-250 4x4, 6.9l turbo diesel, 5 speed manual
Previous oilburners: 1980 IH Scout, 1984 E-350, 1985 M-B 300D, 1979 M-B 300SD, 1983 M-B 300D
Spark-free since 1999

...anyone?

Thanks!

You don't want it full -- I'm not sure of the capacity, but the easiest way to fill it is to get an irrigation syringe from your dentist or pharmacist. This is a 10 mL syringe with a curved tube on the end rather than a Luer needle seat. The tube is fairly small and will fit at least part way into the pin hole.

Remove the bimetallic spring and carefully pull the pin out. Pour the oil into the syringe with the plunger pulled all the way out, then insert the plunger and use the tip to guide the oil into the pin hole. Will probably take a while, the oil is pretty vicsous.

If all the oil won't fit into the syringe at once, repeat.

I would put in 1 and a half bottles of oil, no more. If you want, you can try just one and see if the fan works -- spins up on startup then slows down immediately, and pulls when hot. If not, go ahead and put half of a second bottle in, too.

DON'T fill it all the way up -- fan will pull ALL the time, not just when hot!

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

I believe the procedure was for the early OM603 clutch. I don't know if the 617 clutch can be refilled. And to date, nobody has figured out a way to refill the OM606 clutch.

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Check out my website photos, documents, and movies!

Sorry for not following up earlier; I've been really busy with school.

I went to a Toyota dealer in search of the clutch oil, and found out that they have two types available. They are:

Part # 08816-03001 priced at $14.93
Part # 08816-10001 priced at $16.03

Which one of these do I want? Both bottles were not at the dealer and need to be ordered, and the guy didn't know what the difference was betwen the two.

Or is there something else that may be available more readily that I could use? If it's at all possible to have this going by Monday, that'd be best, since I'm taking the car on a trip this week and would really like to have the fan operational by then.

Thanks again!

The difference between the two oils is the viscosity -- one is "standard" and the other is "high" -- see if there is a centipoise number on the specs. The higher the number, the higher the viscosity.

Either will work, other listers here have used the higher viscosity oil -- it will pull the fan at higher speed.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

The Toyota part # tells you the "centipoise" (new term for me )

08816-03001 is 3000 cst (or some such anagram for centistokes or strokes or ?)

08816-10001 is 10,000 cst (much higher viscosity)

There used to be a 6000 also.

I drilled and tapped a small hole in the reservoir and sealed it with a little allen screw. I filled thru the pin hole as descibed above with 10,000 oil, replaced the pin (it really shoots out of there if you don't remove it first and fill thru the new hole; don't lose the pin!!), and then sealed the bleed hole with the little allen screw. Jury is still out for me; want to fiddle with it some more this summer when it's a little hotter.

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The Golden Rule

1984 300SD (bought new, sold it in 1988, bought it back 13 yrs. later)

Would 1987 count as an "early OM603 clutch?"

The weather is getting warmer, and my fan does not pull air when hot. The fan always idles, but never accelerates, even when the engine temp is 100°C. I'm hoping that the procedure posted above will work on my fan clutch.

Thanks.

It is centistokes. I get them mixed up.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Sorry - there is no "early 603 clutch". There is the 603 clutch with the metal fan blade, and the 606 clutch with a plastic fan blade. Mercedes no longer sells the 603 clutch, you have to buy the 606 clutch and plastic blade to match it. I'm not sure if you can still buy an aftermarket 603 clutch. Many 603 engines have already been converted to the 606 style.

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Check out my website photos, documents, and movies!

We still not have established if this Toyota refill/rebuild of the clutch works on "the Warden's" 5cyl. fan clutch.

Should we assume no since the discussion here has swung to 606/603's?

__________________
"Know other lessons I need to learn? TELL me. Tired of learning'em the hard way".

Glow Plug Wait: [i} Time of silence in homage Rudolph Diesel. Longer you own a diesel. more honor you give". [/i]

Life; SNAFU Situation Normal All Fouled Up, & FUBAR: Fouled Up Beyond All Repair

-Now: Snafued Jeep TJ w/OM617 2Be daily driver & building SS M1079 w/Ambo boxed /live in Adv. Truck, Diesel KLR conversion
-Sold 62 UNIMOG Camper w/617 Turbo, 85 300SD

I'm sorry I didn't reference my car...1984 300SD 617.951. The clutch was very refillable, I'm just not sure if it works as I want it to,.... yet. I need a little hot weather and some time to run it up the Grapevine (or a REAL heat wave and an L.A. traffic jam). I can tell you that my temp is really stable, all the time, at a shade under 90ºC.

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The Golden Rule

1984 300SD (bought new, sold it in 1988, bought it back 13 yrs. later)

Thanks for all the replies

Unfortunately, I just found out that my spring's disappeared. Does anyone know of a place where it may be sold individually, or am I hosed?

Thanks!

You mean the flat, bi-metal spring is missing? You're hosed - sorry!

I'm not surprised...it was worth a shot, eh? I'm disappointed, though; I had tried my best to keep everything in one place...and I suppose there's still a slight chance I may find it.

Also, is this fan clutch specific to the OM617, or did some g@$$ers use the same clutch? Maybe I could find a working one on a junkyard car like the electric fan I found...?

Thanks again!