I do have the white fan blades, so I need to check into updating this?

Wear sensors are on the front wheels only on an 86 300E.
Most likely symptom is a grounding of the (re)used wear sensor.

Jim

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

Hrmm... my 1990 has the white fan, I assumed since it was late it was updated.

Have a PN handy?

__________________
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]

x2 my 90 has white also

Here's what I found:

Up to 045442 - 103 200 03 23, black fan with eleven blades

From 045443 - 103 200 04 23, white fan with nine blades. Can be used on models up to chassis brake w/ fan clutch 103 200 04 22.



Whatever that means, I don't know

__________________
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]

I'll check tonight which color is correct; I have the old one in my garage and the one that fixed the overheating problem in my car.

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87 300e (white/black; amg body kit)
88 300ce (red/cream; amg body kit)
93 300ce cabrio (white/blue/blue top)
93 300ce cabrio (black/grey/black top)
98 ml 320 (totaled @ 137,000 miles)
99 clk320 (black/grey/black top)

I have a mid 90 build date on my 300sel, so I'd venture to guess the white fan is the updated/late one.

Either way, I have no overheating nor do I have cooling issues. Most of these cars I have purchased all had original radiators, hoses, belts at times!, thermostats, etc. I dropped about 3-6°C when installing JUST a new radiator in my 300SDL. Significant drop.

I opted to go with the higher thermo for the M103. There's an 87°C or the 79°C, 188.6°F or 174.2°F. The latter just seemed too low for winter use for proper operating temps. With the 87°C I never get past 95°C at idle in traffic in the summer.

If you can't drop $600 into a cooling system rebuild, you should probably rethink these cars. Then people balk at spending a few hundred more to replace all the vac/rubber connections under the hood too... makes me wonder at times.

They're cheap for a reason, NEGLECT.

__________________
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]

Well once problem solved... I think. Well I was messing around under the hood today and why I hadn't checked it I haven't a clue. But in the fuse box I opened it up and much to my surprise of course there was a blown fuse. This was the fuse for the Auxiliary fan... So 10 seconds later I start the car up and sure enough I hear the fan blown away. I sat in the car at idle for about 5 minutes and I encountered no real issues. The needle only reached the 90 degree line or so, but never breached like previously.

Then I decided I would go ahead and flush the radiator while I was at it, and to my relief the fluid wasn't too bad, some specs of things here and there, but no traces of oil like residue. Filled her back up and it appears to be cooling even a little bit better even after fixing the fan.

Still while sitting at a stop light for a little while the A/C isn't as ice cold as I would like, but I can settle, it still blows cold, just not ice. Plus I realize what car I am dealing with.

Still have the transmission flush to do, thats next on the list. I'll let you know how that one goes.

The AC at idle in these cars is mediocre at best, even with R12. Be sure to have tint, this helps greatly.

Also, verify your fan clutch is working, the condenser is clean (the fins) along with the radiator.

__________________
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]

Well I had planned to slowly replace many items on the vehicle just to insure its reliability. But thank you so much for all of your help. Also my gas mileage isn't amazing, I would say about 17-18. I have heard they can do a little better than this. I was going to do a tune up anyway, which should have some effect I would hope any other suggestions. Suggestions for spark plugs?

Checked last night and I can confirm that the white fan is the updated version.

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87 300e (white/black; amg body kit)
88 300ce (red/cream; amg body kit)
93 300ce cabrio (white/blue/blue top)
93 300ce cabrio (black/grey/black top)
98 ml 320 (totaled @ 137,000 miles)
99 clk320 (black/grey/black top)

I have looked at a few threads about this subject, yet it ends up being more of a debate than an actual informative discussion. Yet I need to know. What engine oil should I use? Just to review it is an 1986 Mercedes 300E W124 with 93,xxx miles on it. The previous owner, a good friends wants me to but Amsoil in it, some 25,000 mile stuff; idk. I am a bit apprehensive about it just because I don't know if this stuff is going to be appropriate for a vehicle of 23 years. So any help would be great, obviously with such a necessity money isn't an object. Also oil filter?

You must run NON-resistor plugs. H9DC, Bosch or BP5EFS, NGK. Dealer carries the Bosch, I think the board does too. NGK are easy to obtain also. Do yourself a favor and order 12-18 so you have spares. M103 plugs don't last forever.

That fuel economy doesn't seem too bad for an average. The '86 has a deeper axle gear than the '87+ as I am told.

Check for vac leaks too, most of the rubber is going to be hard as a rock under and around the intake manifold... it's cheap enough to replace to rule out potential issues. This is a good weekend project. Oil leaks are also vac leaks...

The upper timing cover likes to leak, the valve cover does, the oil filler cap, the oil dipstick tube, these are all oil and vac leaks.





Be sure there is little to no oil consumption before you go to synthetic. If it drinks oil, pouring $7-10/quart oil in once a week will get really old, really fast. My 300sel is up to a quart every 250-300 miles! But I do have 260k on it, I only did valve stem seals to slow the loss. The new head is scheduled for late this year or early next.

I'm not a fan of the once a year/25k oil intervals unless you do LOTS of freeway driving. Oil is cheap, a new motor is not. You need to do oil analysis tests during that duration and for $20 they cost... it adds up. When I run syn I change the filter every 5k (and add a quart) and drain the crankcase at 10k. That usually takes me 5-9 months.

Mobil 1 is the only company that makes an oil filter with a synthetic media for the M103, so they're the filters I use. They trap smaller particles than a standard filter, which is good.

Oil weight per the manual, you'll want 10W40 to 20W50 in your climate. I do 20W50 year round for conventional or 15W50 synthetic.

__________________
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]