How to change coolant on '99 E300 Turbodiesel? - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Gilly · #1 04-30-2004, 07:57 AM

Lightman
One other thing about your fans is that it bothers me a little that after that "first" test you did the fans weren't running, then the next one they seemed fine. Maybe the fans are working intermittently, but on the other hand, I wouldn't think the fans would "really" have an effect on the problem you're having, ie warms up "too fast" (which is an unusual observation).
When I think about the problem you are seeing, it does make me think more about the tstat or radiator (internal or externally plugged) instead of the fans, but the fans are rather trouble-prone on 210's, which made me think of that right away.
Anyways, I'd concentrate more on what the normal operating temp is on your car right now, rather than the "rate" at which it warms up, unless you want to post a new thread in regards to other 98-99 300E owners on rates and normal operating ranges.

Gilly

md21722 · #2 04-30-2004, 08:41 AM

Lightman,

Does your car hold cooling system pressure overnight? Check by feeling the upper radiator hose. Should be soft and squishy after serveral hours of not driving the car.

Regards,

LightMan · #3 04-30-2004, 09:42 AM

Thanks. I will try to check out behind the fan. The car comes up to temp much more quickly than it used to, unquestionably. I would always be to the same part on the temp gauge when I reached the first stoplight out of my development - just getting warm - and now i'm at full temp....

slowmoe · #4 05-02-2004, 11:11 PM

gilly,

thanks for the amazingly accurate instructions!!!

It took me a total of 1 hr to replace the belt that was off of the passenger side aux fan pully. there is no way that would have been the case were it not for your directions. Thanks again!!

Gilly · #5 05-03-2004, 05:13 AM

Hey no problem, happy to help. Only thing I think I forgot to tell you was that part where you kinda gotta bend the power steering cooler tube out of the way. I would recommend using an old bath towel to protect the paint on top of the bumper because of that. But it's not a bad job at all. Was there alot of dust and debris behind your aux fan? I always hosed that area out pretty good, also that area "under" the fan assembly when it's removed is pretty packed too.

Gilly

Rick Miley · #6 05-03-2004, 12:33 PM

Lightman, take a look at what DR. DIESEL has to say about our water pumps in this thread.

Gilly, I think it is safe to say Lightman's electric fans are ok, but I'm surprised that you haven't said anything about the fan clutch or the water pump. And have you seen the impeller failure mentioned in the linked thread above?

As for how fast it warms up, mine is definitely very fast. From dead cold (70*F) it'll be at 80*C within a mile. But Lightman definitely knows his vehicles and if he says something is acting differently, you can believe it.

LightMan · #7 05-03-2004, 02:09 PM

Hey Rick, where ya been!? Good to hear yours warms up that quickly too. While I try to know my vehicles well, I don't put that many miles per year on my E300. I think I may take my mom's E300 for a spin from cold and see how fast hers is, and if it's also fast, I may just chalk it up to paranoia, and watch my overall temps.

Rick, overall temp wise - how high does yours get? Mine in cooler weather will hang on the lower end of the 80 line, but in hot weather sometimes gets to the upper end of the 80 line... recently during a pretty hot day and stepping on it quite a bit, it got a little ways above the 80 line, which is what got me worried initially. I know it's not overheating at that point but I've never seen it get above the upper end of the 80 mark on the gauge before...

Rick Miley · #8 05-03-2004, 02:37 PM

Assuming the unmarked line is 100*C, mine has been hitting 95*C when sitting in traffic. When I start moving again it goes back down to 80 pretty quickly. It's been doing that for the past year, but for the first 4 years it was rock steady on the 80 line in almost any conditions. I'm suspecting my fan clutch because it spins very freely at shutdown even when the engine temp is showing 95*C.

LightMan · #9 05-03-2004, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rick Miley
Assuming the unmarked line is 100*C, mine has been hitting 95*C when sitting in traffic. When I start moving again it goes back down to 80 pretty quickly. It's been doing that for the past year, but for the first 4 years it was rock steady on the 80 line in almost any conditions. I'm suspecting my fan clutch because it spins very freely at shutdown even when the engine temp is showing 95*C.

Thats how mine is. It was steadily at 80 in any conditions, and now as it's aged a bit will get a little hotter. I wonder what is contributing to this.

Gilly · #10 05-03-2004, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Gilly, I think it is safe to say Lightman's electric fans are ok, but I'm surprised that you haven't said anything about the fan clutch or the water pump.

I'm happy to try to help out. I can't think of "everything" though, this is a forum and you should get lots of opinions, I sure don't want to be considered the Diesel Guru, because that wouldn't be accurate at all.
Never had a 606 waterpump failure that I can recall, nor a engine fan clutch. BUT that's not to say that they DON'T fail, if someone has experience with a problem like this, don't just sit there and snicker, contribute!!!!

Gilly

Rick Miley · #11 05-03-2004, 07:49 PM

Geez Gilly, I didn't mean to beat up on you. Maybe just prod you into remembering something else about the 606 that you weren't thinking of. We don't get your attention very often here in DD, so we need to make full use of you when you're here.

Lightman, I checked mine when I got home today and the electric fans are both working. But it looks like all the goo has indeed come out of the viscous clutch.

LightMan · #12 05-03-2004, 08:26 PM

I dunno if this was the cause, but I had noticed a little more smoke than usual lately, so I checked the air filter. It has only been about 10k on this filter, but it was filthy. I'm wondering if this restriction maybe was raising engine temps a bit, because today with the clean filter the car didn't get over 80, and made less smoke. Who knows. I'm not going to tear anything apart or mess with it unless I start seeing abnormally high temps.

Gilly, do you have any idea what might make these cars reach slightly higher temps as they get older, as Rick posted above?

Gilly · #13 05-03-2004, 08:55 PM

As far as reaching and maintaining higher temps, the first thing that pops to mind is the outside of the radiator getting covered/packed with dirt/bugs/pebbles, etc and the fins on the radiator getting bent, all of which reduces the efficency of the radiator. Also the "scaling" internally (crud inside the radiator plugging up the core tubes, kind of like the pleasant things you hear about that plug up human arteries).
With the engine itself, I can't really think of much that would be related to aging or wear that would make the engine actually "produce" more heat, but you now have one lead here that has heard of waterpump problems om a newer 606 engine.
Could maybe be the thermostat. But if you think about it, WHAT could the thermostat "do" that would cause a rapid warm-up? MB would probably like to know, because the emission people just LOVE it when the engine warms up faster (better emissions).
If the thermostat opens early, the engine warms up slower, but eventually can overheat the engine (coolant not allowed enough time to transfer heat to the airstream in the radiator).
If it doesn't open "at all", you'd know that, it'd overheat.
But what if the thermostat opens a little later than expected? Too me, it would just mean the engine temp would be higher, but I can't reason in my head why this happening would neccessarily make the engine warm up "faster", it should only go "higher" than normal, but at a fairly normal rate.

Quote:

Geez Gilly, I didn't mean to beat up on you.

I'll let it go THIS time

Gilly

slowmoe · #14 05-12-2004, 09:51 PM

My 210 has been darn close to the 100*C mark at idle recently - then right back down to the 80+ when moving - even after replacing the electric fan belt.

Rick,

Did you ever replace the fan clutch? My fan spins pretty freely when the engine is cold and is tight when the engine is warm.

Lightman,

Any resolution to the "too hot" issue?

I do not have any debris in front of the radiator. The radiator has only had MB coolant with regular changes.

Rick Miley · #15 05-13-2004, 08:16 AM

No, I didn't replace it and don't expect to anytime soon unless it gets much worse. I've got too many other projects going right now.