Fixing Early W202 Duovalve Question(s).
 

Issue: Heat coming out of side vents. Permanent trouble codes on my CCU indicate a short circuit on the duovalve (51 and 52)

So far: I have taken the coil towers off the base plate but have not removed the valves or the the coils from the towers; nor have I pulled the valve body (?).

Questions:
Can I service my duovalve like this guy did on his W210?
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?p=105123
What can I and can't I do to my slightly different duovalve?
Besides cleaning and clearing passageways, what else should I do?
The person who did this write up mentioned the capacitors but did not say if he replaced them. Should I while I am in there (so far, I have just pulled the towers off)? Are they replaceable? Soldering?
If I decided to kiss the heat goodbye (I live in SoCal), what is the best way to bypass this device and continue a good engine flow?

Buying a new duovalve is not out of the question, but since I am already about $800 in on my climate issues, I thought I would give a fix a try.

Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Story: My HVAC woes continue. Previous owner had blocked off heater hose from head (back of motor) to plastic flow through piece in firewall. I figured it might be impeding flow from the head so I decided to replace the broken plastic firewall hose bypass (?) and both heater hoses. So, I did that yesterday. Plus, the wife likes heat in the Winter. Also, I was having some slightly higher water temps than I should. I thought the stock routing was best.

Thank you in advance. Michael

I was able to acquire these two Duovalve how-to's: 1) Courtesy of Jim F. http://v12uberalles.com/Rear_AC_System.htm 2) and this excellent HVAC thread at Benzworld at which MSF's MattL provides many excellent HVAC tips: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w210-e-class/1265436-ac-quits-blowing-cold-air.html which was sent to me courtesy of xvvvz who posts here and there as well. I will take pics of my progress to have some W202 specific DV DIY. Hopefully, it works out. Michael