is this like having it in but unplugged? As in, will I be able to drive Hilda and move her around, or do I have to have her parked somewhere I don't have to move her while I wait for a part?

I finally had some mild weather that coincided with "free" time and got her out of the lot and she's right in front of my building and I was planning to pull the monovalve and see if the rubber is all cracked. (And wash her.)

yours truly, the stupid questions department

__________________
Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. -- Edward Abbey

1984 300SD: Hilda the veggie vundercar

The only stupid question is the one that is not asked.

By removing the valve, I assume that you mean taking at the four screws and removing the plunger and diaphragm. If you do that you will have max heat. Even if it's 20 degress F, you'll have all four windows down it will be so hot.

A monovalve repair kit can be had for about $35 and takes five minutes to replace. You would be best served by replacing it.

BTW, you can check the monovalve in five minutes also.

Hope this helps,

Larry B.

thanks a million! I already have max heat...that's why I think it is broken (after getting much great advice here on a thread three weeks ago).

I know checking it would only take 5 minutes, but as I've never taken it out before and don't know the potential failure modes, I was worried that after I took it out I might discover I couldn't reassemble my busted one and get it back in and that I needed something in that space to let the car run w/o overheating (you can tell I don't fully understand my car yet. I'm studying her one part of one system at a time.)

__________________
Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. -- Edward Abbey

1984 300SD: Hilda the veggie vundercar

...And as I was sitting here visualizing the location and all....I just realized that the only way the engine "knows" the monovalve is there is because of the electrical connector -- which is already unplugged -- and so this whole train of thought was ridiculous.

I'm so embarassed.

But, I'll leave this thread here as an example to others.

__________________
Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. -- Edward Abbey

1984 300SD: Hilda the veggie vundercar

we've all been there and done that..... Sometimes you just get locked in on a concept and it takes a Larry Bible to get you back on track.

It is possible that your monovalve is stuck open and the kit will be required to fix it. My experience is that these things need rebuilding from time to time. That's the reason for the relatively inexpensive kit (and the ease of repairing).

Cheers,
Wes