ShawnLong

It keeps falling down. I have no idea what is keeping it up. It stays up in one back corner. It drags on the ground, I shove it back in there, it hangs down and makes noise, till eventually it drags on the ground. Can I rip this stupid thing off?

503C43 ////AMG

You can take it off but it is not recommended, MB put it there for a reason. The guard is held on by fasteners, it sounds like you are missing them or the holes the fasteners go through are damaged.

nd4spd13

Is this the big one under the engine we're talking about?

99CEEFOURTHREE

If your unable to get the fastners, some medium black zip ties should do the trick! Relax be calm young man

Sulaco

Took the splash guard off my C280 circa 2002. Never had trouble afterward!

Removed splash guard from my C43 about a month after I bought it. YMMV I guess.

cm60k

+1,

Removed that guard shield "3" years ago, without any issues, plus need more air flows around the oil pan to cool it,

cause much hot air comes down from the Engine side & not escape or recycle in the dead area around that shield.....

ZAYED,,

Saaboteur

Could be that the speednuts (into which the screws go) are worn out. Replacements should be quite cheap. Take out the old ones, insert the new ones, good to go.

Whilst I am not an aerodynamicist, I understand that generally flat surfaces are better for airflow than open spaces. I dunno how much work was done during the car's development for engine bay and underbody airflow, but you'd think Mercedes put the splash guard there for a reason.

cm60k

Agreed,,

I can assuming that MB put that shield as a protection reason from anything could hit the Engine from bottom side,,

they open an vent hole to the shield for the direct air flow,,

but i think this hole NOT enough to get more air to cool the bottom Engine,

and if you noticed; the shield area get the stuck hot air without in/out vent cycle.....!!

ZAYED,,

Ausmbtech

I've tried both with and without it while I was chasing a high engine temp on the track. Trust me, it runs cooler with it in place. I'm sure there is a aero benefit at speed to but I have no numbers to back that up.

cm60k

That’s a good sign,,

i may agree with some benefit with a high speed, but that may during to the normal or cold air, NOT with a hot air,,

I tried that either in mine,, you know; in our country, sometimes the temp. reaches "50-52C",

when i put my hand in the shield area, extremely damn hot air flows there, comes from the Ex. manifolds & the oil pan,

and NOT escape easily from that area,,

our oil pan does not has any kind of gasket between the upper & lower,,

silicone paste is the only way to joined them together,,

i had an oil pan leaks from that narrow area many times, when i removed that shield, no any leaks from that day,,

i can guess, that shield can cause some heat issues, by over stuck hot air in that area,,

maybe that could NOT that noticed with a normal or cold countries....!!

ZAYED,,

Ausmbtech

With ambient temps that high I'd be doing 2 things to fight temps. Firstly I'd change the fan blades (not the coupling) to the fan from a W210 E300td (606 engine), it has more blades (11 vs 9) than the M112/113 fan as is the same size.
Secondly I'd modify the splash tray in a similar way to a factory W202 C250TD tray (no they aren't a direct fit, but if you want to buy one you can drill new mounting holes). The c250td tray has a cutout and a 1.5" piece of plastic hanging vertically infront of the cutout. This creates a area of low pressure at speed and increases the airflow through the intercooler. Doing the same thing to our tray in a position just after the radiator would aid cooling too whilst keeping the splash tray.

See attached pics for comparison

Saaboteur

That's a cool OE type mod you've pointed out, good info!

A couple other anecdotal notes on aero - closed wheel racecars, like Le Mans sportscars, are much more aerodynamic than open wheel racecars.

Recently as I have gotten Porsche 911 fever, I've been reading up on them, and newer models have flat undertrays - or rather, they have plastic bodypanels beneath almost the entirety of the car, I understand.

My winter beater A4 Avant's splash guard has NACA ducts in it - must mean they did some engineering work on underbody airflow to help evacuate engine bay heat.

cm60k

Very good info., Thankss for sharing...,,

I tried all types of an M113 fan, they won’t fit,,

is that "W210 E300td" fan fit without any mod....??

ZAYED,,

cm60k

Unfortunately, the "W210 E300td" fan not fit, the edge of the fan blades hits the Radiator....!!

there is no free space for it, how do you fit it, do you have some pics. for installation...??

ZAYED,,

cm60k

Also M112 fan clutch(which we use), won't fit, should to cut the small piece of plastic in the clutch base,

that avoids clutch to set properly.....!!!

ZAYED,,

cm60k

Guys,

I heard W208 sharing the same "Engine splash guard" with our W202,

can anyone confirm that....??

ZAYED,,

ShawnLong

I managed to fix it. I got real mad and got under the car and secured it to the to clips that it goes into, and I bent those clips in the opposite direction. Somehow this has managed to keep it up, even when I have to drive on bumpy roads which seemed to make it come dislodged. So for now, so far so good!

cm60k

Glad you solve it....

ZAYED,,

cm60k

Took some pics., of the "W210 E300TD" 606 Engine fan,

1) The edge areas that hits the Radiator (see the scratches in black),

2) The small piece in the clutch base, i cut it, to let the clutch set properly,

* i think the "W210 E300TD" fan would fit to all "W202" & "W208" 4 or 6 cylinder, & all "W210" 4-6-8 cylinder,

but it will NOT fit to "W202" & "W208" 8 cylinder...!?!,

*pls. if anyone got some experiment about this, share it with us....







ZAYED,,