W124 owners, Check your radiator support NOW! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

400Eric · #1 04-25-2010, 08:34 PM

I've begun work on Benzer 4. (A 95 E420 that's not in my sig yet.) The first order of business was to fix that flimsy tube under the front of the car that passes for a lower radiator support. On B-4 it had been pushed up and back so much the radiator was wedged against the fan, preventing it from spinning! Now remember, this car was being driven like this! (I think this is the real reason why I bought the car...... to save it from idiot owners!) Amazingly, even though this should have destroyed the clutch in the fan and/or seized it, it seems unharmed. There's no play, but it's definitely not the tightest clutch you've ever seen either.

Anyway, when I pulled the support forward, as flimsy as it is it went too far and I had to hammer it back some which caused it to split open which brings us to the reason for this thread. When it split open a BUNCH of RUSTY WATER came out! Now despite the picture I've painted at this point of this car being a turd, it is not. It's actually a decent, rust free original California car. And despite all this talk of El Ni~no, we've actually only received less than two inches of rain more than normal this season. If this car has water in that tube and it lives in this relatively dry climate, how much water is in your radiator support tube? Rotting it from the inside out! I suggest everyone drill two small holes, one on each side of the car at the low point of the tube so that any water that is in there can get out and stay out. I'm going to do this to all of my W124s! You all should too! That tube is flimsy enough as it is! It doesn't need any help from rust!

Please post whether or not you found water in yours!
Regards, Eric