Having removed from my '87 300D (W124, OM603) the EGR valve and plugged the vacuum line to the ARV valve, it occurred to me that the air flap and its potentiometer (which live in the plumbing between the air filter and the turbo) now serve no purpose except to get stuck shut, thus robbing the engine of air. The air flap apparently doesn't cause problems -- I can't find any mention of it on the forum at all. The potentiometer tells the EGR computer how much air the engine is taking but with ARV and EGR not functioning, the computer has nothing to do and could be removed if the tach signal did not go through it.

The part is 000 542 92 14 "Indicator, air-flow sensor." Should I remove or modify the air flap so that it stays wide open? It looks like I could remove the whole thing and replace it with a piece of pipe. Anyone ever done that or isn't it worth the bother?

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