Strange issue with the 90 300TE it's eating the bottom of the fan shroud.

[Ascension]

First off the shroud is seated correctly with the lower tabs in the slots and upper clips in place. Also this car shows absolutely no evidence of body damage and carfax also showed no accidents. The former owner just had new motor mounts installed and I'm wondering is he used the wrong mounts? The crank pulley and air pump pulley both have worn notches in the lower shroud. To me from the bottom it looks like the engine may be setting a couple inches low in the bay. Any other ideas guys? Also who is the go to on quality mounts if I do have to swap these? Lemforter shows to be made in China now.

 

[gsxr]

The lower radiator support VERY OFTEN gets shoved inward an inch or more due to careless parking. It is difficult to press back into place with a hydraulic ram. Measure the distance between holes in the plastic splash shield (buy a new one if MIA), compare to the distance between the rectangle nuts for the screws. The distance should match exactly. I bet yours are in inch or more closer together than they should be...

 

[LWB250]

What @gsxr says plus I would try and find out details on the motor mounts that were replaced. If they used a poor quality brand they might not be doing the job. Also check the transmission mount to see if it's been replaced, as that should be done when the motor mounts are done as well.

Dan

 

[Ascension]

I would try and find out details on the motor mounts that were replaced. If they used a poor quality brand they might not be doing the job. Also check the transmission mount to see if it's been replaced, as that should be done when the motor mounts are done as well.

Dan

After talking to owner of the shop the former owner had do the mounts I'm leaning towards a bent core support now. They did both the motor and trans mounts just a few months ago and this shop really specializes on working on old Benz's so---.

 

[LWB250]

After talking to owner of the shop the former owner had do the mounts I'm leaning towards a bent core support now. They did both the motor and trans mounts just a few months ago and this shop really specializes on working on old Benz's so---.

Good to hear, at least it's likely you can now take them off the list of potential sources for the issue. Sounds like you need to get under it and check the lower radiator support.

Something else had also occurred to me - is the radiator sitting "proud" in the upper radiator support? I ask because maybe it's not fully seated in the bushings it is suppose to rest in on the lower crossmember?

Dan

 

[Ascension]

Something else had also occurred to me - is the radiator sitting "proud" of the upper radiator support? I ask because maybe it's not fully seated in the bushings it is suppose to rest in on the lower crossmember?

Dan

Making sure the radiator was seated properly and also the shroud was also seated with the tabs in the slots plus clips intact were the first things I checked. The passenger side however does look like it is riding slightly higher on the top than the drivers. Will run it by a buddy's shop in the next day or so and get her up on a lift to really take a hard look at that lower core support.
Radiator plus upper and lower hoses are almost new BTW.

 

[Ascension]

Well today it was confirmed that the core support is knocked back. How much don't know but it's definitely back a few inches. So far back that on the passenger side the belt is into the fan shroud. This one don't look like it's going to be fun to fix.

 

[gsxr]

I assume you don't have the plastic splash shield (you haven't said either way). Find someone on a forum with a W124 + M103 and have them measure the distance between screw holes. You'll need this data to know how far to push the support forward.

 

[Ascension]

I assume you don't have the plastic splash shield (you haven't said either way). Find someone on a forum with a W124 + M103 and have them measure the distance between screw holes. You'll need this data to know how far to push the support forward.

Have no way to pull or push the core into place myself. Turns out the owner of Birmingham Benz I knew many years ago and he says they have done several of these so will let them do this job. Just threw me a big curve I wasn't expecting. This one had on splash shield when I got her so no frame of reference there. It's so far back the passenger side of the shroud has a notch rubbed in it from the serpentine belt.

 

[Ascension]

Thought I would throw an update on this issue. Yep the core support was knocked back and by several inches. Before it was impossible to get behind the shroud and do any work on the front of my M103 without removing the radiator and fan shroud. The Shroud was into the serpentine belt and the bottom pulley had worn a notch into the shroud. Now have several inches of clearence between the shroud and the belts and pullies.
Used a wood block and hydraulic ram to move the core. Had a local shop do the work as didn't have the equipment to do this one.

Have no idea what the former owner hit with it but it was a mess. Luckily Paul and the guys over at Birmingham Benz had seen this before with 124's and made short work of it. I already had the car there for the front suspension work as don't have a proper place to do that kind of work here at the house.

Car aligned perfectly and everything now seems to be aligned as it should be under the hood. We suspect the absolutely dead front struts may have let the car bottom out in the front as there was no evidence of a hard impact other than a very minor indention on the front bumper strip left side. Both front struts just fell with no resistance when they were unbolted and had absollutely no pressue as did the steering dampner. Talk about a ill handling mess to drive!

Now with the new Billstiens and some other greatly needed attention it drives like a dream and handles as well as my E420 does. You guys were spot on about checking that core support. This car has come a LONG way over the last couple months and has turned into a very nice daily driver.