450sl cold start valve

hi, i have a 79 450sl which has been hard to start. taking several revolutions to fire in the past. then it sat for 3 weeks and began harder to start. now will not start. car has spark and compression. also getting fuel. sprayed starting fluid into throttle body and started right up ran until it warmed up and i killed it. will not restart. put a multi,meter on cold start valve and is drawing 9.6 volts. also started today ingnition key is beginning to lock up. finally got it to engage and tested the draw on the cold start valve. should i replace the cold start valve or look elsewhere. i do not have a lot of money to start throwing new parts into it. when it does run it runs like a bat. i will appreciate any and all help on this as i am unemployed and my financials are not good. need to sell her asap but can't until this issue is fixed. thanks, lb