I have an early 1981 500SE engine & trans that I put into a different car (a 107 body). The donor car had approximately 220,000 miles, and I do not know the full service history, therefore I do not know whether the transmission is all original, or if it has been worked on before. There is a transmission slippage problem when it is cold. It will engage 4th gear, yet any amount of torque will cause it to slip severely. Strangely, it does hold the engine RPMs up in overrun conditions (throttle released) during deceleration in 4th gear - it only slips when any power is applied. The problem completely disappears once the transmission is warmed up, and then it works perfectly (except for the fact that it shifts more harshly than my US spec 450 with the 3 speed trans). I have adjusted the linkage & bowden cable to specs, as well as trying it a bit out of position either way (more or less pressure) without resolving the problem.

I am mechanically proficient, yet very ignorant about the internal workings of automatic transmissions. I remember reading about a band #2 piston sticking problem, is this likely to be what could is causing the problem? If so, can that problem be resolved without taking the trans out of the car? Also, could the vacuum modulator diaphragm have anything to do with this (if it is old & becoming hardened and possibly less pliable when cold?). THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP!

(I have a couple of other questions, but this post was long enough already, and I don’t want to be a pig!)

PS: I have been visiting your web site for the past six weeks, and I think it is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!