Hello all, I realized I posted previously in the AMG W163 postings so here it goes again -

I went to the trouble of pulling out my dash to replace the original OEM blend door actuator with a part I bought on ebay. I was super careful to install it correctly and grease the sliding parts to give it the best chance of lasting. But its already failing after less than a month!!

What I like to do is replace the gears on the original unit and just trash the ebay part. I've found an ebay seller of the gear - https://www.ebay.com/itm/Blend-Air-D...-/172412268146

Has anyone has success with using this rebuild kit? It looks to be 3d printed gear and I was hoping for a metal gear replacements. I'm looking for the most robust unit or rebuild so that I dont have to keep taking the dash out to replace a failed one. Any thoughts or suggestions?

I can guarantee you that replacing that gear will not correct your problem. A virgin Blend Motor is indexed at the factory to work upon installation. The gears must be positioned in a certain manner which is only known to the manufacturer.

I would not have trusted an aftermarket part that is going in so deep after such an extensive DIY labor.
Yes, dealer parts are a bit expensive, but become easily affordable if you are DIYing the labor - especially on something like this.
The blender motor should probably only need a once in a lifetime replacement.

That is really good to know that replacing just the gear will not work. Check that option off.

Yeah I would agree about the OEM part versus aftermarket for such an involved replacement process but it seems that the OEM part is the problem in the first place with all of the failures.

Are there any aftermarket blender actuators that are better that anyone is aware of??

The original part lasted 15 yrs or so. What more do you want?

Buy one from the dealer and be done with it. Lesson learned.

I don't appreciate the sass. I think it's reasonable to ask around about aftermarket part quality or other repair options as I'd say it could be assumed that anyone driving a 20 year old vehicle does not have extra cash to throw around.

Not true. Not everyone who drives an older car necessarily doesn’t have cash to throw around.

I think, a wiser approach is to estimate criticality of part, cost of part, how complicated the part is by design/install & labor involved in replacing the part.

In your case, the cost of the factory part is around $100 or so & labor to do this is a lot & will easily cost more than $300.

Going with a factory part will ensure, your labor is less likely to have to be redone for a long time & the peace of mind that will come with it.

I have a rebuilt built steering rack, ABS motor (very expensive to get as new factory parts). aftermarket AC compressor & a bunch of smaller easy to install aftermarket parts on my vehicle.

But if I have to replace something deep in the belly of the car & is a complicated part by design and/or install (case in point - front wiper motor), I would bite the bullet & go/went with factory part.

My 2 cents.

You are absolutely right that as these trucks are these old & have little resale value, it becomes harder & harder to justify big ticket item repairs.

I appreciate his sass.