>Will the upgrade fix our problem?
Yes, because you will then be able to assimilate the new peers files.
>Is there another possible answer, like somehow tracing the route of our
>distribution to see if it's bogged somewhere up or down the line?
No. The problem is inherent in 1.8c, post-Y2K.
I don't mean to be a PITA, but we've been telling people that 1.8c was
not Y2K-compliant since early in 1999. There are no fixes short of
upgrading to 1.8d.
Nathan