Ok,

I spent the better part of four hours today troubleshooting my door lock issues. I used my mity-vac vacuum pump and the following diagram which was a tremendous help.
http://ericandkat.com/mercedes/W123VacDoorLockDiag.WMF

All my hard plastic lines, check valves, and rubber connectors are fine (thank God) but I found three problems that I think caused my lock issues.

1. The PO appears to have tried to troubleshoot the issue before. I found the lock and unlock lines switched on both passenger doors (i.e, applying vacuum to the lock circuit would cause the door to unlock, and vice-versa) Fixed that issue.

2. The left rear door lock pod will not hold vacuum in either lock or unlock mode and needs replacing.

3. The fuel door lock pod will not hold vacuum.

4. Not sure if this is an issue or not. Is the Master vacuum switch in the drivers door supposed to act like the other lock pods, or does it simply switch vacuum from the vacuum pump depending on the lock position? When I applied vacuum to each orifice on the switch, it would hold vacuum until I moved the plunger manually, then it would quickly bleed off. However, the plunger never would move by itself with just vacuum applied. I'm thinking it is working correctly but would like to know for sure.

Bottom line is I need some parts. How hard is the fuel door lock pod to replace, and is it worth the effort? Also, I know I need a rear door vacuum pod, but based on the above, do you think I need a driver door master switch as well.

Many thanks,

Glenn

__________________
2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 91K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 231K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 196K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 249K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 376K (diesel commuter)

No.

Thanks, I thought the master was working ok but wanted to be sure. Anyone else care to chime in? Still wondering about the difficulty of replacing the fuel door pod

__________________
2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 91K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 231K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 196K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 249K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 376K (diesel commuter)

It's real easy. Couple of screws and vacuum lines.

__________________
85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Just to update. Got the new door pod and fuel door lock pod. Put them in last night, and VIOLA! Totally working locks all the way around.

Thanks all for the help.

Glenn

__________________
2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 91K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 231K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 196K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 249K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 376K (diesel commuter)

Where did you get a new door pod? I need a few.

There's a dude on here George murphy who sells the guts for the pods
I am sure it would be cheaper to get them from him vs buying new ones, he also does the ac flap guts. I need to get an order into him. A search on him will bring up his info. He was just in a recent thread.

__________________

George Murphy

__________________
Len
'59 220S Cabriolet-SOLD and living happily in Malta
'83 240D 351,500 miles original owner-SOLD
'88 560SL 41,000 miles - totaled and parted out
https://sites.google.com/site/mercedesstuff/home
'99 E300 turbo 227,500 miles
'03 SLK320 40,000 miles - gave to my daughter
'14 Smart electric coupe 28,500 miles
'14 Smart electric cabriolet 28,500 miles
'15 Smart electric coupe 28,000 miles