Consider just going back to R12. The refrigerant is available. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/184779-how-hard-convert-back-r12-r134.html

probably cheaper than the monster fan.

Electric Fan vs Viscous Fan
 

After much searching and emailing different companies, I have come to the decision that the Lincoln Mark VIII electric fan is by far the most superior fan out there. I am not sure if this fan would fit in between the space of the m103 engine. Anyone had any experience with the Lincoln Mark VIII fan?

That is one thick fan, just like the Volvo 960/S90 style.

Measure from the radiator core to the nearest pulley to have an idea for depth. On the 300SEL I have about 3-1/8"... not much.

Keep us posted on what you do. :)

The Lincoln fan draws about 60 amps, which is quite a bit even with an uprated alternator. In it's native soil, it's modulated by a proportional fan controller and rarely runs at full speed. Lincolns also have decoupling overrun pulleys on the alternators, to handle the shock of the fan coming on. I would use a more modest fan, maybe a 16" Permacool or Spal. If one of these, plus your aux fans can't cool the car, then you have another problem.

Is you aux fan coming on at all? It's supposed to turn on when A/C pressure exceeds 300 psi. Not a great design, but it should work. What I did was to add a 95C thermoswitch in parallel with the pressure switch. That assures that the aux fans at least run on low when they are needed.

Volvo fan is not PCM controlled. :) If it pulls more than 15A on low and 30A on high, I would be surprised. In factory form, it does not jump right to high speed.

I have not seen anywhere stating that fan draws 60 amps. Do you have a info on the amp draw? Most I've seen was about 40 amp and people that have fitted the fan recommended either a 200 amp solenoid, a dc control unit, or a high amp relay. Even a 40 amp relay was not enough for the fan. I'm unfamiliar with solenoid an and control unit wiring, so if I do get the fan and it fits I will probably opt for a high amp relay unless anyone has any other advice.

you can 2 stage the fan switch on, meaning you add a resistor to the wiring so it does not weld the relay when it starts up, You then need a timer of somesort to energize another relay that can bypass the resistor and make the fan run full speed.

I had an old VW diesel which had a monster of a cooling fan, its motor was nearly as large as gasoline engine starters, and VW wired it in a way that there was a resistor built into the motor and didnt even use relays to run it half speed, there was a relay on the fan shroud itself that would kick it into high.

Other equally monstrous fans were on some Audis, they used a 100A strip fuse.

If you really want to install an electric fan then a thin spal fan is best - you can also try to make a shroud for it so it can suck air through the whole radiator rather than just the little circle of the fan.

It won't fit. On my 2.6 I just used the stock aux fans on high and triggered them at a lower temp without the clutch fan. Worked great even in Vegas heat. A Volvo fan barely fit on my 2.3. Also all the 100a fuse and 100a relay talk is BS. These fans drwa 30a max. If you want a cheap 2 speed relay get the one from the Volvo 850 or 960.

My 2.3 setup, this has been on the car for 6 years now running through standard ice cube relays. The Lincoln fan is even thicker so u can understand why it won't fit your 2.6.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...rcedes/053.jpg

Both cars got a manual over ride switch in the dash if the temp switch failed to do its job. Turned to that I never needed it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g?t=1289865331
Attached to the radiator.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...rcedes/040.jpg

All the electric cooling my 2.6 ever needed was provided stock from the factory. I simply spoofed the temp sensor with a resistor in parallel and bypassed the BIG resistor on the frame rail so high speed was triggered around 90c and removed the viscous fan.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...cedes/fans.jpg

Both cars got a manual over ride switch in the dash in case the temp switch failed to do its job.turns out it was unnecessary.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g?t=1289865331

Wiring modifications for the 2.6
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g?t=1289865273

Good luck.

Problem is not my car running hot. I have all the wiring done for in cabin switch controls for low and high speed. Problem is there is not enough air sitting at idle to blow cold air from the vents with a/c on in 115° heat

Lincoln Mark VIII fan on w201
 

So I got the fan today and holy $#!+* does that thing blow air like crazy. I would say it's easily the equivalent, if not more than one of those giant industrial fans in a garage. Anyways the fan diameter and the shroud are a perfect fit. The only thing is that it's too thick. This fan shroud and fan make the w201 fan look like one of those house fans. This shroud fits so perfectly over the radiator and encompasses the whole thing. As I'm looking at it, I'm looking at the little flimsy thing that was on the w201 to begin with and now I'm wondering if the original shroud even does anything at all. So I disassembled the motor and it is pretty much the same size as the w201 aux fan, but a bit thicker. I plan on trimming it down to size and moving the components to the w201 aux fan housing. I have an extra w201 aux fan on the shelf. I will start working on this when I get some down time. I did trim the shroud down some as well.

Theres no electric fan powerful enough that will fit between the radiator and the M103. If you want more powerful pusher fans get the ones from the W124 or W140 but I doubt they'll fit either. If you want more powerful AC especially at idle you need to get the pressure in the AC system up to spec. If all else fails switch to hydrocarbon refrigerant or a larger compressor from a W124 or W140.

I have the 300E fan and clutch.....still viscous which means fan is still only turning as fast as engine to a certain extent. Yeah the m103 was really shoe horned. I'm determined to make this fit. I feel confident I can get it. Will a bigger compressor really cool more with the current set up? I don't see how.

This is exactly why I am planning to swap a M112 V6 into my 2.6.

What may help is to replace the condenser with a newer style parallel flow condenser. Other crazy modifications could include converting the AC system from expansion valve/received drier to orifice tube/accumulator. I am not totally sure that would help or not, just what my mechanic friend said could work.

EPIC FAIL on the Mark VIII fan. It was too thick, but I did just pick up a W203 fan from a 2002 C240. I need to do some fabrication to the shroud, but this is definitely thinner than the Mark VIII and it really moves a lot of air as well.

Another idea to remove heat from the radiator therefore removing heat from the condenser is to install remote mounted transmission and oil coolers. I just bought three transmission coolers from the parts yard off of Sienna vans and they look like they will fit in the wheel well on the W201. I'll use one as the transmission cooler on both of my *running* W201s, and the third as an oil cooler on my Sportline. I may have to relocate the horns on the Sportline but that shouldn't be too much of a hassle, or perhaps not even necessary.