Hello M-B folks, My name is Tim Clark and I have recently acquired an 83 300SD. I have a question on it and a fellow Rennlister (a glance at my email will reveal my other automotive "prior commitment" - all 10 of my allotted email addresses are in use for the time being, so this will have to suffice) referred me here, which is excellent as I found the Benzworld forums to be not quite as useful as I had hoped. Mr. Dave Gilmore (said R'lister) already replied with one take on my question, but I'd now like to cut/paste said question here and see what additional insights are generated.
Original question, slightly edited for this presentation: I recently purchased an 83 300SD, approx 260k miles. Transmission slips on 2-3 shift - but all other shifts are solid and positive, both up and down - and the 3-2 (edit - corrected from "4-3" which isn't the shift in question, oops) downshift is also solid. My question is, if only the one shift is bad, is this likely to be an adjustment issue? I would expect if clutch pack wear was involved, other shifts would be off too - in other words, how likely is it that one clutch pack is toast while the others are totally fine (my impression is there are separate clutch packs for each gear - this is my first auto-trans car in quite awhile so please forgive ignorance there)? The car came with sporadic records (well-documented for a few years at a time, then nothing for a while), so I'm not sure if anything has been done to the tranny - another question is, how long should these go before some service is required - how likely is it that the tranny may have already received attention at some point? Finally, if anyone can shed light on how auto transmissions work/what can be adjusted (pre-electronic trannies that is), I'd appreciate it much. Here's Dave's reply to avoid duplication of info: "Mine does this too when cold. I have read a K-1 spring kit solves the problem and it can be installed while the trans is in the car. Rusty at www.buymbparts.com/ or 800-741-5252 likely can provide it. When I first got my car I changed to Mobile 1 ATF and that almost cured it. I plan to try the K-1 deal next. Mine has 75,000 on it. I have read the transmission in these cars usually last about 200,000 miles before a rebuild, although some people get more. The adjustment procedure is complicated because of the vacuum interaction. I suggest a fluid & filter change along with careful adjustment to the MB specs before doing anything radical. The adjustment does alter the firmness of all the shifts. That is why I am suspecting the K-1 in our cases." Oh, and I checked the records I have - the tranny fluid was changed about 7k miles ago, but no filter - I assume this is just like changing the oil without changing the filter - basically pointless? So might be a good place to start.... Thanks in advance, Tim 88 944 (reasonably good shape, needs a few things) 83 300SD (needs paint on roof, missing a/c, pretty much everything works, runs strongly)
