Well I just bought a 1997 C280 and I was thinking since it was newer than my w126 and w123 that there’d be better parts availability. I think I’m very wrong.

Today I tore my driver’s side door apart to check on a vacuum leak in the door lock. The leak was getting really bad and I could hear the pump overrunning and the hissing sound in my door. I figured okay, it’s just a vacuum lock actuator.

Well the actuator is integrated with the door lock mechanism. It is discontinued according to Pelican and other sites. The car has the optical remotes which go through the door lock mechanism which makes it inconvenient to open without remotes. There’s no keyhole on the driver side. This also means the locks are special setup for the optical remotes and they aren’t common. The 1999 and up uses a slightly different lock and it seems to lack a switch that tells the security system the state of the locks.

I capped off the vacuum line and I’m going in through the back door. Maybe I’m looking at key tumblers? But I’m not sure those will even work with my lock mechanism. I guess I can go to the JY and cannibalize an entire set of door handles and locks.

I guess I’ll call Pelican and ask what to do. It looks like this car is going to slowly become junk as I cannot replace parts. Rebuilding the door lock looks hard because it’s riveted together. Also getting a diaphragm may be difficult.

How are you guys dealing with NLA? I’d go to the junkyard but I don’t want rotten old diaphragms. BTDT and they die in short order.

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79 300TD “Old Smokey” AKA “The Mistake” (SOLD)
82 240D stick shift 335k miles (SOLD)
82 300SD 300k miles
85 300D Turbodiesel 170k miles
97 C280 147k miles