Okay after much searching to no avail, I have come to the board to ask the help of my friends!

Who has replaced this on the W126? Yes, I know it is not easy like the defroster nozzle and I fully expect to waste 4-6 hours doing it. Two of my 126s need this so I may as well figure it out. Is there a DIY I am not finding?

The best I can tell is that I have to remove some sort of box that the pod is clipped to so the pod can be removed?

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

I've done this job and yes expect to take 4-6 hrs. It's not super difficult but is tedious because of working in such a small space. The ornery part is the arm coming off of the center vacuum pod is partially enclosed in the plenum. To unclip it from the flap, you have to remove the panel it feeds through and work in confined quarters. BTW, it clips to the flap in the same way as the defrost actuator does. It helps to know this when you're trying to detach and reattach the pod when you can't really see what you're doing.

It has been quite a while since I conquered this so here is a thread that hopefully will help:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/12207-300sd-climate-control.html post #9. Sorry, I didn't have a digital camera at the time so a "verbal" description is all I have to offer.

HINT: Plug the center console, below the work area with white rags as the little parts can seem to disappear into neverland.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

Badass, glad someone has gone through this... and is local!

As I begin to fool with this I will snap some photographs so we know what this involves. I forgot the 560 needs this too... that makes three.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

I replaced mine when I pulled out the heater box. I would definitely recommend removing the center console to give you as much room as you can get. Not so bad with the heater box out, but would not be much fun with the console in place.

Good luck

i did mine,pulled the center vac pod by untwisting the outer section of the pod and removing the vac diaphragm and spring and un clipping the rod on the vac diaphragm rod which was a bit of a task and replacing only the diagphram out of the new vac pod back into the old housing and reinstalling the outer housing back on thereby not having to take the whole d---m dash apart,not much room to try and get the rod back in the whole and clip on but with patience you can do it,good luck to ya.

I dealt with this issue a few years ago when my car would not shut off due to a vacuum leak. I ended up going ahead and replacing all of the vaccum pods. I removed pretty much the entire center console and dashboard.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/268063-300sd-will-not-shut-off.html

Best of luck.

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Brian
'94 E420 - 99K
'12 C300 4 Matic

Previously owned:
'06 CLK 500K Cabriolet
'85 300SD (Old Smokey)
2002 Boxster
2002 C320 (The five-pointed star Mercedes)
1993 300E 3.2 (Dealership's cash cow)
1979 300SD (Chrome beauty)
1983 300D (Old faithful)
1983 240D (Right lane cruiser)
1977 240D (Miracle of bondo)

I'm not understanding why you removed the center console. The side kick panels, yes, but not much of anything else. Also, with a little padding, it is a great place to sit to work on the center vacuum pod. Radio, pushbutton controller and glove box, pretty much gives you access to everything.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

Ended up doing this a few hours ago, took about three hours. Not hard at all, just time consuming and require patience. I have taken pictures and will post them tomorrow.

OH, I was able to reach through the back of the heater case to latch and delatch the hook from the flapper... that was the entire premise for being in there, driver's feet (MINE!) were cold as could be. While in there I noticed the latch, then received the proverbial 'wild hair up ass' and just did it then. Now I have all working pods but still a problem:

I still have damned cool air coming from the center vents with the heat on max on Econ mode... This cannot be normal on 1st Gen cars. What in the hell am I missing here?

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Join the club.

The SD has been giving cool air via the center vents and leak to the defrost for a year now. Only hot air is via the footwells. Takes forever to get the cabin to temperature in the cold.

Check out this post:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/2831698-post2.html

I believe he is referring to the "scoop" pod that is on the left side close to the expansion valve.

I haven't had time to take it all apart............but, I'm sure you will.

Apologies for the quality, they were with my telephone around 4am. The digital camera was not charged

First few show easy way to access that coin slot and its appearance with the clip. Last are the new pod. I have no idea what those push connectors are named, but pick up some new ones at your local hardware store.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

See post 7 for a pic with the dash pulled back.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/304718-bloody-climate-control.html

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.