DAMN you guys are GOOD! That was going to be my next question! I thought of that as a possible temprorary solution last night after I went to bed! If I did this, wouldn't I still be able to control the heat by turning the fan switch to high/low/off? No way to change the temperature of the air output, but if I can turn the heat to high/low/off, that will do for our trip tomorrow.

That's an easy one to test - I can just unplug it before I head home from work tonight and see what it does. If that doesn't do the trick (temporarily) then I'll pull the innards out tomorrow morning.

BTW, I did an eBay search on "Mercedes monovalve" and only got one hit for a rebuild kit - for 56 bucks!

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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown