While reading the Model Year 1986 Introduction into service manual for the W124 (USA) I discovered an interesting picture and text on page 164 (attached image). It shows a pipe or tube from the rear of the alternator to the right wheel well on the OM603 engine. The idea must be to allow warm air from the alternator to be vented into the wheel well. Does anyone have this tube on their car?

I do not have one of those tubes on my '87 300D Turbo. This may be because it was removed by a PO; it may be because the idea was dropped before the model was introduced for sale in 1986 (I have a "Preliminary" copy of the manual). It could be because the tube was dropped for the 1987 model year. All of us have probably noticed that the manuals do not always completely/correctly show what is on any one particular model.

The 1987 Introduction manual has very little on the 603 engine because there were no changes except to make the smog stuff uniform in all 50 USA states. However there is a very thorough description of the 602 engine (NA and turbo) and this alternator cooling tube is neither mentioned nor shown in a picture.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Interesting...

I don't believe mine has one (11/86 production if I remember correctly). It would have definitely interfered with my removal of the passenger motor mount if it was there.

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1982 240D, sold 9/17/2008
1987 300D TurboW124.133 - 603.960, 722.317 - Smoke Silver Metallic / Medium Red (702/177), acquired 8/15/2009
262,715 and counting

I have never seen one on a 603 engined 124 vehicle and have owned 8 so far, I have seen that ducting on 201 cars with M103 engines. Thee is a moulded plastic cover attached to the alternator and the corrogated tube attaches to a bib on that cover. Not to dispute your posted details but the function according to the picture you posted is the opposite what you've described. It's used to channel cooler air to the alternator not warm air from it.

That's fine; you'll notice the manual doesn't say which way the air flows. I just though that there would be air flow through the engine compartment from front to back. Either way works for me, subject to the next paragraph.

I've also heard from Sixto via email; he has never seen one either. I suspect that this thing, if it ever existed, may have been in Euro OM603NA engines only (notice the photo doesn't show a turbo). Sixto commented that there isn't much room left on that side of the engine compartment after you stuff the turbo in.

Finally, this isn't the first time I've found something in the factory manuals that doesn't completely agree with what we have on our cars. Because my '87 had an abused childhood, I'm never sure what is 'stock' and what is 'modified' on it. I end up asking a lot of potentially strange questions because I can't trust what I see on my car.

Jeremy

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

I know that my '87 300Ds didn't have it, but my '94/'95 E320s all had a cooling duct from the grille to the exhaust-side engine mount that I'll keep on my diesel-swap project.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

its on all the w201s I have seen. ie.. the smaller sisters to the 603

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The 201 is a chassis and the 603 is an engine, did you mean you've seen this on all the 601 engines you've seen?