Very good news! Keep plugging at the vacuum lines and it'll fall into place.

I printed out some vacuum schematics and colored in each "leg" of the circuits as I tested them. It helped me keep track of which lines I had checked. I had a couple of loose check valves and a bad fresh air element. Mine worked fine with both of the fresh air element lines plugged.

It helped me to separate the lines so I could see what was going on:



It also helped to use a little vacuum connector on the vac pump to check circuits:



I also found a leak in the servo vacuum switch which was screwing up my center vent flappage:



The Medusa like hoses were leaking so I replaced them...

Maybe this will help a little.

__________________
My occupational hazard bein'
my occupation's just not around...
1980 300SD
1980 300SD

I've only done one real "cool down" session so far. It took about 5 minutes to get it down to 40. While driving it it cooled down quicker, obviously, and held it's temperature.

I thought so too, but it is 2.6 pounds of R12 in there... Also it was hot, which I think has something to do with it. I'll recheck pressures tonight when it's cooler (relatively of course).

I'm at the point where I'm just going to order a dozen connectors, check valves, and whatever else I can find to make sure this system is working! Right now I have a thermometer jammed in to the vent which keeps the vents open.

Hogweed did send my a vacuum pod for the center flap since mine is leaking, but it has the wrong style attachment fitting. Mine is the one with the little pegs and those circular clips (I need to figure out how to get those off). Still, the diaphragm should swap in nicely.

Congrats & Kudos for keeping at it .

I still cannot force my center vent flat open even a tiny bit and I'm afraid of breaking it by too much force .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Lovely.

__________________
1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

^ Quite. I've literally been battling this since you shipped it to me.

I took Norm for a full test drive today. He's been needing some SLS parts so I haven't had a full "cool down" session with him.

At night, with ambiant 84*, I hit TWENTY SIX degrees!!! I LOVE R12!!!

Still rockin' the aluminum bodied servo???

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Of course! It works perfectly, I just have some vacuum leaks to hunt down. It's nice having your passenger say "it's too cold" for a change...

Just wanted to report that two months later the system is still working flawlessly and still holds a charge. Thank god!

It's getting a bit cooler here in Florida, and if it's less that 80* outside I'm getting 18* out of the center vents. Yes, you read that correctly. It still struggles above 90* ambient, but I think tinting will help. It's an old system so I'm not overly picky.

If this isn't a reason to invest in your AC system and use proper R12, I don't know what is.