I have an 85 300D. The 2 vents in the center of the dash are inoperable. Anyone have any ideas how to fix?

Probably bad vacuum pod. It's a tough one to replace. Many people remove the dash to replace it. My solution was to stick a piece of flat aluminum stock down into the vent and bent over the edge of the vent to hold it in place. This kept the flap open. I now control the center vents with the on/off spinner at the outlets. I think I plugged the vacuum line going to the pod also.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I did essentially the same thing. Jamming the vent open has the advantage of allowing you to have heat during cold weather for your right hand.

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

Kerry or anyone who has done this successfully: Could you completely describe how to jam open the center vents? I'm not following you completely. Do you have to remove the glove box to do this? Should I plug the vacuum line to the center vent? Will the system still function properly (i.e. all other pods open/ close)? Thanks

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Scott

1983 300D Turbo

Can't really remember how I did it (about 5 yrs ago). I might have gone thru the glove box. There's a rubber boot that connects the metal ductwork to the round vents. (I think). Pull it off and stick something down in there to open the flap. I used a thin piece of flat aluminum stock I could bend over the edge of the ductwork to stay in place. Put the rubber boot back on. Plug the vacuum line to the pod. Everything else should work fine.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I removed the vents and the rubber connector, then zip-tied it shut. My boost and exhaust pressure gauges are now in the perfectly placed mounts

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

When the vents are open slide a small black hose down the vent and jam it into there. As mentioned utilize the spinning controls to have or not have air come out the vents. You can access the vacuum vent controls by removing the glove box to ge them open so that you can slide the hose down. Takes only a few minutes for the whole procedure.