I love this forum!! Thanks Jcyuhn! I called an indy this A.M. He told me to bring the diagram. His mechanic knew right away what the problem was. He said he thought he had seen the last of these problems years ago. I asked how MB could let such an important function rely on this plastic piece. (In all fairness tho it lasted 17 years.) He said they didn't make the mechanism like this anymore-- but aparrently he didn't remember the recall. He had a clip and said it was the last one and that I was lucky he remembered where it was, Then he showed me how to put it on.
The blessing in this is that I was going to make a trip to Chicago this morning so I'm fortunate that it broke last nite in my driveway instead of in the passing lane on the Turnpike today. I'm going to check with the dealer to see if I can get the metal piece. Thanks again!

darkman
1987 300D 196k