When I went to change the blower motor on my 87 W124 300D , I heard all kinds of terrifying stories about the Fan Cages and I was told to order the motor with new fan cages by everyone on line.
Even the dealer mechanic said he had tried 4 or 5 times and always screwed them up. He saidd,"Dont try, its not worth the frustration" and that he had thrown away amost $700 worth of motors trying..
You can bet that at 45, I certainly listen now, and that was my plan until Mrs. Carrameow, my Automotive Financial Affairs Director, told me otherwise.(She has assumed control after I pleaded with her to help me cure my OCD D=Diesel)
She said at least, try!
Well to make a short story long, I used a simple 2 jawed gear puller with a slotted washer ( to protect the hubs) to take the fan cages off in 15 minutes!
However there was a slight Creative hitch, maybe not Genius, and maybe more Desperation. To get the gear puller jaws enough room to fit, I had to use a Hi Speed Grinder to literally (arrrgh) carve up the old motor, bearing holders, housing, stator and windings all until all that was left was the shaft with the fan blades on them. It was very ugly but simple. Believe me this is a HEAVILY BUILT Motor as I sonn found out, and it took the grinder some 30 minutes to slice it up...
BTW The fan plades were easily tapped on the new motor with a 13 mm tall socket and some Vaseline.and they didnt vibrate one bit..The Day was uneventful UNTIL--I took a huge Nick out of my Finger trying to see if the Driver Side Fan Blade is actually exposed to the atmosphere by innocently sticking my finger down into the housing on the drivers side.$%*! That hurts.watch it! Those blades will take your finger off..I am typing this with a bandaid on my typing finger ( Yes i am a one fingered typist that wont be gone for another week..