Hi,

This is the second time in a couple of years I've had to mix and match parts to make a Frankenstein vacuum actuator so I thought I'd post it up. The selection of vacuum flap actuators is getting worse and worse by the month. Not to complain, MB has been a hero supporting up to 40 year old cars, but it is what it is. NLA. I tried to find the defrost flap actuator on my 85 300D and it is NLA. PN: 1238003275.

To get it out I used dmorrisson's post* on changing pods without removing the dash. His tricks work and are definitely easier than removing the dash, but they always result in broken up lock tabs and plastic mount pins. I needed a new part. Gluing, rebuilding, etc. was not an option.





I dug around and was able to find this part on the Pelican website. 0008005775



They are pretty close to each other. They're both double acting pistons and they both have the black twist lock bayonet mount as opposed to the little pins and push washers. So I drilled out the rivet on the old one and it just snaps into the new one using this little snap lock bracket on the new style. The modern ones eliminated the rivet. I had to reclock the black portion with respect to the pink portion so the vacuum nipples ended up in a friendly orientation.

You basically push down the little clips one at a time and separate the shells, rotate, then put it back together.

Just thought this might help you guys with the never ending all too often issue of NLA. Its getting worse. I got into these cars because they were inexpensive and high quality and easy to fix. The parts availability is becoming a bigger and bigger issue. These diaphragms cannot be realistically bought used and still be expected to hold up. It just isn't worth all the work of installing it. There's a huge community of hoarders/gougers** gathering up all the junkyard parts but that won't cut it on these diaphragm actuators.

My naive observation is there seems to be only two types of pink actuators. Single and double diaphragm. The difference is bayonet mount or push washer mount and the metal tang or hook thingie on the end. I think we can just do this with any pod as long as we save our metal portion or make one.

Finished actuator - 1238003275 equivalent. New pod + old metal tang. I can keep driving a little longer.



*this post is a great one. Worth reading.

W123. My experience with replacing all AC vacuum elements without removing the dash.

**I am going to withhold my rant here. You guys are good and bad. I’m happy you’re rescuing parts from the junkyards but the prices you are charging are insane. This is America and I toast your capitalistic efforts.

__________________
79 300TD “Old Smokey” AKA “The Mistake” (SOLD)
82 240D stick shift 335k miles (SOLD)
82 300SD 300k miles
85 300D Turbodiesel 170k miles
97 C280 147k miles