Odd series of event (not diesel related-i think)
 

1. My 1996 E300 engine cover dropped from the front and dragged down the highway for 10-20 miles-ground it down pretty good)- i managed to fit what was left back up under the bumper cover part and it tucked in and stayed -planned to replace or remove, my old 190E lost it around 260K miles

2. About 1-2 weeks later 2 of my fan blades were missing and I had a gouged radiator on the way to work barely getting me to the mechanic- only hit 108 at max when stuck at a light - lost a lot of fluid of course - My diagnosis was the fan shroud was popped free from the bottom tabs when i was cleaning the highway in part 1 and the blades hit the shroud ripping on off completely and the other partially

3. Radiator, fan (not clutch it was OK) and belt were replaced. My CEL light came on and the mech. told me to bring it back as the car ran fine and didn't go over 100 idling for a while but he did want to check the Check engine light (CEL) issue.

4. On my way home the car was shifting hard into 2, 3 and 4 and not hitting overdrive easily-

Could the flying fan bits have compromised my vacuum line going to the tranny? Would a vacuum issue set a CEL error. I need to get them diagnosed/read but this occurred on friday and today is sunday.

thanks

On a side note, my CEL would come on whenever my fuel got below 1/4, but a fill p would clear it - i attributed this to an old cap that needed replacing. Fuel delivery/pump run by vacuum too?
Once again it's a 1996 E300

Your trans shifts via vacuum input.

Is possible one of the fan blades might have damaged the plastic line exiting the vacuum pump or that some other vacuum line was knocked loose resulting in hard shifts.

Sounds like someone hit a driveway swale too fast and bottomed the front. That can impact the lower front belly pan and bottom of the rad directly above and casue the rad to shift rearward slightly. PO did this to mine as evidenced by scrape marks on front pan and missing middle pan.

I'd check CEL soonest, dont need more problems.

Does the fuel tank cel come on soon after starting up? There are a couple of tests run on the fuel vapor system and one of those may be the cause.

Fuel pump is a lift pump on side of IP. Is a simple piston that pulls fuel up from the tank.

My '96 E300 also had a "radiator shift" probably from the same cause. Minus the pan, the bottom of the radiator is rather exposed and the pan really isn't that much protection. My mechanic and I managed to bend the radiator support back to where it belonged and I replaced the front-most pan.
Jeremy

Thanks
 

Without removing the bottom cover, is it possible to see/fix the vacuum pump from the top? Do the vacuum hoses have a different color or are they all black?

thanks so much

Also, can a vacuum leak cause a CEL to come on?

TIA

Problem solved
 

There was a cracked vacuum hose, mechanic found it and replaced it. CEL gone and the car shifts nicely again.

Thanks

Do need to clean my EGR though, gets jerky and that was one of the codes showing up. Comes on intermittently (the CEL).

fan does not like radiator!
 

19K miles later, my fan has destroyed 2 more radiators! One in my hand and one after the mechanic replaced and was test driving the car! Must be the fan clutch or the radiator really has shifted sightly - how did I manage 19K miles? Luck?

Any suggestions or others facing this?
1996 E300 (W210) 223K miles.

thanks

As Jeremy says, check the lower core support and ensure that the very front encapsulation panel is in good condition and properly attached at the front and rear. It's easy to hit the lower core support when parking the car or even when coming off of a driveway, and that plastic panel helps keep it from moving when you do.