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  #1  
Old 08-24-2003, 11:34 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Naperville, Illinois
Posts: 92
E320 Viscous Fan Removal

I'm stumped and a little bit lazy this Sunday morning. I have a 95 E320, with a failed viscous fan. I would like to change out the clutch today, it being Sunday. However, I am having problems breaking the socket head cap screw loose that holds the clutch assembly to the fan pulley.

I have the special "fan holding tool", but cannot, looking down from above, determine where the locking slot is located to rest the tool, which then engages a hole in the fan pulley. to immobilize the fan pulley. The manual directs you to insert the tool in a hole on the back side of the pulley, and to wedge the tool in a slot located in the fan bearing bracket.

Can the slot be seen/reached from above the motor in the engine bay? Or, do I have to remove the belly pan to get access from below the car? And, are there parts such as hoses, wires, etc. that should be removed to ease access to the pulley?

And, if the slot is reachable from above, can someone provide "directions" on how best to find and see the slot.

TIA

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Old 08-24-2003, 10:24 PM
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Location: Naperville, Illinois
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THE CONFUSION CONTINUES!

Still not able to locate the slot into which I should insert the fan pulley holder. To confuse things a little bit more I researched the subject in a British manual for the 124 series E cars.........historically, this manual has been rather poor. However, it did differentiate between the two valve and four valve engines. If the book is correct, then the slots for the holding tool are on the 2 valve engines, while the 4 valve engines require a special spanner wrench. My E320 is a four valve engine.

I did finally take the bottom engine cover off and jacked up the car to take a look at the underside. Still could not locate a slot into which I could insert the holding tool. So, I still need some advice. Has anyone run into this before?

TIA
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  #3  
Old 08-25-2003, 12:41 PM
JetForeman
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been there before and the slot can be a little hard to find if your looking at a maintenance manual picture. The slot that the tool fits in is U shaped and it's located on the shaft that the pulley and clutch attach too, not behind the clutch as most pictures make reference to. Look behind the pulley at the 1:00 o'clock position, if your looking directly at the clutch, and you should see it.

I can barely see it on my car if I hold my flashlight near the thermostat housing and point it behind the clutch pulley on the shaft.

Good luck and if you still can't find it I will go out and take a picture of mine and send it to you.
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  #4  
Old 08-25-2003, 01:17 PM
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Mass
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Not sure on m104 engines.

For the m103:

The slot in question is on the left (driver's) side just behind the pulley. It is in the 'casting' that supports the shaft. It is partially obscured by a metal coolant tube. The pointed end of the tool points forward toward the fan, and slips into a hole when the fan clutch is spun to the proper orientation. The tool keeps the fan clutch from rotating, and the slot keeps the tool from rotating. It is not much of a slot, really, more of a little depression. It may be caked in oil. You can hit it with some brake cleaner.

Best of luck.
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  #5  
Old 08-30-2003, 04:11 AM
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I couldn't find that slot on my M111 (4 cylinder 16V engine), used a pipe wrench on two of the four bolts on the water pump pulley to hold it all. Fan clutch is a left hand thread on mine, the manual didn't say that!
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  #6  
Old 09-14-2003, 03:14 PM
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SUCCESS!

I finally located the tool holding slot for the viscous fan pulley. To illuminate it, I had to shine my shop light from the passenger side of the engine bay, and there was the slot! It is between the 12 and 1 o'clock position with you standing in front of the car. As it turned out, once the slot was "seen", the holding tool was very easy to snake down to the slot without removing anything other than the plastic cover over the SOV ( on the front of the motor).

Incidentally, if anyone attempts to replace the viscous fan on these cars, you will quickly find that there is only about 3 inches between the front of the viscous clutch and the radiator core.....not enough room to get a 3/8 ratchet with allen head socket onto the Allenhead hold down bolt. There was just barely enough room to get the socket alone positioned! And, it takes quite a bit of torque to break the fan bolt loose. The fix? Slip a box end wrench over the hex head of the socket. Hold it in place with a little bit of duck tape. You can then insert the socket into the bolt. I can't recall the box end wrench size...........but, it is small (about 8 - 10 mm). You can then use about an 18 inch cheater pipe over the wrench to get enough torqe to break the bolt lose. Worked like a charm. So much for lazy Sunday afternoons!

Thanks to Jetforman for the emails and encouragement! Once the holding slot was found, it took about two minutes to have the fan out.
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  #7  
Old 09-15-2003, 10:18 AM
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Clever idea!

Another method is to use an ordinary L-wrench with a short length of 3/8 pipe on it for leverage.
The L-wrench can be cut or ground shorter for added clearance if needed.

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