Hi there,
Thanks for the information - PsFred, what you say makes a lot of sense, the rubber components do deteriorate over time, and it IS an '82 with almost 300K on it. I guess I won't worry about it unless it fails again in a few years. The local indie that I got the new part from had three of them in stock so I guess that should tell me something, also.

Regards,
Richard Wooldridge
'82 300D/4.3L V6