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To Tom Byrnes, re: the subject.

Get a catalog of Mercedes 240D (or similar) diesel auto parts. The door
locks are all vacuum operated and the master vacuum switch, which mounts in
the driver's door, would be a perfect alternate air switch. I'ts quite
small - about two inches long and maybe 3/8 inch in diameter. It has three
hose barbs which switch a common connection to one of the other two. The
operator is a 1/8 inch dia. chromed push-pull rod with a small thru hole
near the end that could be used to connect a knob. Push-pull stroke is about
1/2 inch.

As far as reliability, I finally had to replace one on my wife's 240D after
almost 190,000 miles as it would allow the vacuum accumulator to bleed off
over night. Usually, the system will hold enough vacuum to operate the door
locks for many days without running the engine (which replenishes the
vacuum), so a new one doesn't leak much. Besides, on her car, it operates
everytime the doors lock and unlock - as an alternate air switch, it
shouldn't need to operate very often (one would hope) so it should last for
quite a while and the cost is low.

Dan Schaefer

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