Surfblau:

Have you replaced ALL the rubber hoses on the vac amplifier on the dirvers side fender? Mine were all leaking, and also the vacuum transducers for the air recirc and the EGR (under the air filter) were bad, caused me to have little or no vac at idle on the tranny vac lines.

Also, check that the modulator is not leaking -- try your MitiVac on the line labeled "trans" on the blue vacuum amplifier. If it won't hold vac, you need to check the rubber bit there, and also the modulator may be shot. They can also be adjusted. You can also get a long piece of hose and adjust the vac to the tranny while you drive the car -- route the hose out from under the hood and into the window. If you can make it shift properly with pump supplied vac, you still have a leak.

And pull the vac supply line off the vac pump up at the front of the engine -- there is a restriction in it that can get plugged, very likely if you have leaks, and you won't get enough vacuum to run the tranny correctly. Clean it out and replace it, and if that doesn't work, try removing it. You should be getting at least 12" vac at the modulator ("trans") connection on the blue thing at idle.

Replacing all the rubber bits helped, but pluggin the lines to the transducers cured the problem -- I now have to watch that I dont' drive too fast, it's so smooth!

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!