My 85 has a good running engine, radiator and AC condenser fins are clean, temp gauge runs at 82 C normally. I removed the fan and fan clutch April of last year and has been running that way since ( love all that extra room created). I added a snap switch on the thermostat housing to control the ac aux fan automatically as well as a manual switch to turn the aux fan on whenever I want.

In my experience, as long as ambient is below 90 F, the aux fan keeps the temperature steady at around 82 C even sitting in traffic. Above 95 F ambient, the aux fan cannot keep up in traffic and the temperature would creep up to 100 C and beyond. In those situations, I pull over, shut the engine off, pop hood, let the aux fan run to cool engine down. I will probably add a small electric puller fan before next summer.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

My experience too - no fan - no problem for most of the year here in Northern Europe. The capacity of the radiator and the amount of coolant in a 300D is big enough for this.

But it all comes down to low ambient air temperatures and a block free cooling system.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!