Don wrote:
Wait, dude, back up. What is this "clean it" stuff to which you refer? .. I even pondered today whether or not the diaphragm could be replaced with something, say a piece of inter tube clippings.
Okay, on the back of the IP is the shutoff valve. Around it is a square-with-a-corner-cut-off piece of metal that holds it in. Can't remember the bolt size (probably 8 or 10mm), but I remember using my 1/4" drive ratchet to take them out. Once that square piece is removed, you want to pivot the exposed portion of the shutoff valve towards the engine, such that the end you can't see moves towards you and disengages from the rack. Then pull out, and voila. One removed vacuum shutoff ready for whatever brand carb cleaner you've got laying around.
When I was troubleshooting earlier in the week, I had Donna remove the instrument cluster, and we disconnected the vacuum line that runs from the ignition to the valve and cleaned the oil out of it. Great opportunity to get the wife involved in a little game of "find the tube". ;-D
To be honest, after all of the "engine runaway" and "need to buy a new long block" posts I am somewhat concerned about replacing this part without having the fire department standing by 10 feet away.
If you install the new part the same way you removed the old one, you'll be fine. If you shove the stupid thing in straight, your engine will go to max RPM on start, and you've literally got seconds to shut it off before it starts consuming oil for fuel and eventually killing itself.
But don't worry - a little caution on the re-install, and everything will be golden. If you don't have caution, well, insert longblock, problem solved. ;-)
-- John L. Ervine 1981 240D 4-spd 267+kmi 1980 300TD 167+kmi 1980 300SD 277+kmi
