I messed with turning the original C818 that was in there. Even removed it and lubricated it with a bit of WD40. Nothing.
So I took the C818 out of the 19 inch TV... EXACT same coil. hell, exact same chassis minus a card or two. BINGO! That did it!
So a sacrificed my 19 inch TV to save its 25 inch big brother. That suits me just fine, as this one has video input, and a larger screen.
PS: is this a renote capable set? I know they existed in 1984 as I have a Mitsubishi from that same year that works with my universal remote.