1998 E300TD fan blades sheared (see photo's) and damaged radiator - cause?

[stormyk]

Hi,

I own a 1998 E300TD. I've had it from new and done 161k miles in it. It's been well looked after but is now showing some signs of age.

The other day, I heard a clunking noise when I started her up. I've got one glow plug down at present so I thought it was just associated with that as the noise disappeared when I revved the engine.

However, after 10 minutes, my low coolant light came on. When I got home, I looked under the bonnet only to find that some of the fan blades (the fan attached to the engine block - not the electric fan) had completely sheared off. Further investigation showed that the fan blades had somehow 'moved' so that it was now hitting the radiator - this caused the fan shear as well as damage to the radiator (see attached photos). I've pulled (what's left of) the fan and whilst it moves slightly it's difficult to tell whether the bearing (or is it a clutch on the fan?) has gone as it is being held tightly by the belt. I've cheked that the radiator and the plastic housing (that the fan rotates inside of) hasn't 'slipped' (the housing is fixed to the car body but the fan is mounted on the engine block) but it is rock solid so have eliminated that.

I believe it will be just a matter of replacing the radiator and the fan (clutch fan?) but am reluctant to do it until I know that doing so will fix the problem. SO....

1) Can anyone shed any light as to what has caused the fan to shear and how I can check it?

2) Is it easy to fix? ie any special tools needed etc (I am a competent DIY car person). If you can point me to a step by step guide that would be most helpful (even if it's just to do part of the job eg remove radiator)

Any help wpuld be gratefully received

Regards

Keith

 

[Alex Crow]

have you dropped off any high kerbs lataley? the w210 radiator lower support is badly designed, and can easily be pushed back by kerbs or even heavy debris on the road - i suggest you check to see if it is distorted or shows signs of having been bent.

 

[television]

Hello and welcome, this is the first time that I have seen that

I can give you the info for replacing the fan and idler gear as it can only be the bearing that has gone

 

[wireman]

Check that the new fan runs concentric in the plastic shroud, soggy engine mounts result in it runing lower than it should and (here I speculate) might have allowed the engine to jump forward under braking etc untill the blades touched something static.

The fan centre is either an electric clutch or thermostatic affair which should rotate freely whilst the engine is stopped but should of course be stable axialy and hold the fan quite rigidly if any attempt is made to bend the fan forwards or backwards.

Whilst you have it in bits (just take off any thing in the way, it is quite simple) examine the belt tensioner for wear in its mounting bearing and particularly the damper (unbolt and remove it for these checks) which should offer considerable resistance to being pushed and pulled, if the damper dies the bearing will expire in no time and you will have to take it all to bits again to get at it.

 

[spock500]

These engines will run in the UK climate without the fan, I think Dieselman has been running his for a while with good results.

Back to the problem, i would look at gearbox/engine mounts too as a likely cause, the clearance between the fan and the rad is small on the OM606.

Apply parking brake firmly then ask a friend to select D then R slowly whilst you observe longitudinal movement of the engine.

 

[Alex Crow]

i wonder if the O/P is coming back?

all advice above is good, but i must urge that the lower rad mounting is inspected first, it is far more likey to be at fault than engine mountings or water pump bearings etc (going on the photo evidence).