I think these might be related. The water temp rises in stop and go traffic and when stopped. It is fine (just above 80C) the rest of the time. Also the air conditioning doesn't blow cold until on the freeway. Could this be a fan clutch problem? I have never seen the fan towards the front turn and the main fan doesn't seem to move much air. I just acquired this 1986 300E and it has about 119,000 miles.

 

On another forum I saw that the temp fluctuations are normal on the 300E. It seems though that the forward most fan is supposed to go on with the A/C and it isn't turning at all. I'll check the fuses tomorrow. What else could it be?

 

is the engine cold right now?

 

radiator problem

make sure the cooling fan is working too.

 

Pretty close if not. It was 95 here today but it has been shut down for almost 6 hrs. What's your tip?

I got zero A/C today. I know it needs to be serviced but it was more or less working a couple of days ago. That fan isn't going on but I can hear the compressor engaging. I can't figure out why, with the compressor engaging, I get no cold air, even now on the freeway.

 

Check the speedsensor on the back of the compressor, it is a plug in style apporx 2 1/2"x 1" sometimes it vibrates loose.