Bite the bullet, replace the obvious, don't mess with what you don't know, as it may increase your cost when you need to call for serivce. Just some friendly advice.
Anytime I try to do something I am not familiar with, the cost always goes up, but at least I tried. I know what you're dealing with, and we all try to save a buck. But, the voice of experience says, replace the obvious, and then go from there.
There is likely no way to bypass what the controller does, but it certainly helps us understand if there are any shortcuts.
