OM603 fatally overheated, time for an engine swap?
 

Bad news, I let my uncle drive the car to go pick up some stuff from the store and when he came back there was smoke coming from up under the hood, coolant was splashed all inside the engine bay, the thermometer was pegged to the top and the fan fell off of the clutch and destroyed the radiator. The fan wasn't tightened properly and that eventually caused the engine to overheat. It's frustrating because I remember using that pulley tool as a counter force to get a good tight torque on it, but I guess I did something wrong. But the most frustrating thing is that he drove it while it was overheating, instead of just turning the darn thing off. I always keep one eye on the road and the other on that temperature gauge. And of all times when I decide not to drive it, the engine overheats and is destroyed. But in the end all this crap falls on my end. I know it's my fault, but damn, if I were driving I felt I could of at least saved the engine.

Now I'm considering an engine swap. Probably just going to get another 603 with the radiator as well at a junkyard. We'll see.

Was it still running?
 

Was the engine still running? Will it still turn over? Things may not be as bad as needing an entire engine.

i swapped my om606 not because the head could not be saved. I could not find anyplace locally that wanted to mill the head or mess with the prechamber heights. When I did finally find someone who was familiar with older diesels, they had a 2 month wait time.

The engine turns over and runs normally. Going to have to get a new radiator...
If I see coolant in the oil
oil in the coolant
plumes of white smoke
or water coming out the exhaust, i'm calling it quits on that engine.

Also what is the best way to plug up the transmission cooler lines while once the radiator is removed?

Well...
 

Plastic bag and rubber bands. I have a box of old foam ear plugs. They work well...for a while.

Ordered a radiator, I'll know if I need a new engine soon, sometime next week.

Out of curiosity, where did you order a radiator from? They've been NLA for the SDL for years.

I bet your engine will be fine.

Found someone on Ebay who was selling an original unit. The seller offers returns so if the unit is a dud a can ship it back to him.

Started the engine and it doesn't idle as smooth and it sounds a little different as well. So the engine is damaged. When I take it to 1,500 RPMS it flutters around and isn't stable, it falls.

Engine is toast.

I ran my e300 almost in the red before and my engine has near factory compression numbers. You're probably fine. Your uncle owes you a motor for driving that thing overheating. That is stupidity.

Maybe your bad the fan came off, but you didn't tell him to drive it no matter what happens. He should have at least stopped and checked... or if he's really that inept it mighta been a bad call to send him off alone with the car.

Either way, sounds like a bummer. :(

Hate to be "that guy", but didn't the engine already have 2 low compression cylinders and you were going to replace the head? If the engine overheated, the head is likely the issue, if you were going to replace it anyway, there's no time like the present. With the compression numbers you had, I can't believe that it idled worth a crap anyway.

You're right, it ran like complete crap when cold.
Took off the elr and it would stall out going in reverse, and turning the wheel.

It was that weak. Not to sound mean but how is reconditioning the head or getting a new head more cost effective than a swap?