Our Carrier 58ss gas furnace just died... At first I thought the problem was with the pilot switch (LH680005) because the thing would never switch over from pilot to main. But now I understand that it is probably the hold coil in the gas relay that is blown...

1) shorting the pilot switch to keep the pick coil on causes the main gas to turn on as it is supposed to,

2) there is an open circuit where the hold coil is supposed to be (terminal 4? I don't have to diagram in front of me)... that is clear evidence of a blown hold coil, right?

So I guess I should buy a new gas relay/valve, EF32CW183, right?

1) Any tips on replacing that thing? It looks like it is in there solid... not obvious how to detach all those gas input/outputs...

2) Is there any reason not to just force the pick coil to be on all the time? Why did they design the thing with a hold coil in the first place? It seems like if I just wire the pick coil direct to the 24V power (yellow), and then leave the spark circuit on the pilot switch, everything will be fine, no?

The hold coil seems totally stupid, when the pick coil does the same thing, no?