My 1986 300E 5 speeder has the A/C on the fritz AGAIN. Has anyone out there looked at converting that complicated POS control system to the simpler manual-type system that worked on my 1978 240D FLAWLESSLY for nearly 130K mi.? There has to be some kindred soul out there with more time than I have willing to figure it all out. Any takers?

The '86 was the worst of the 124 cars for a/c problems. Actually though, as long as the evaporator or vac controls that are buried deep in the dash don't fail, it's pretty easy to keep the rest of it going.

The 240D is a TOTALLY different vehicle and the controls would not fit. The only thing you could do would be if you could find a Euro car in the salvage yard to get everything off of.

The problem and I do mean PROBLEM is that you would have to go deep down into the bowels of the dash to hook up the control cables and such. This is about a 15 hour job.

Although parts are expensive, you can replace the climate control push button unit easily and it is the heart of the system, thus the most common culprit.

Also, what is the nature of your problem? If it is refrigeration system related, then it has nothing to do with the automatic climate control unit and would be the same on a manual system anyway.

Give us specifics about your problem and we will do our best to help.

Have a great day,