I've just about finished troubleshooting my vacuum problems. ('80 300D)

Your tranny complaints may well be due to a disconnected line to a 'vacuum modulator' on the right side of your tranny. There's a hose that comes from a 3-way connection on top of your valve cover, it's black, and it runs down along/behind the driverside of the engine, to the right side of the trans. Check it out.

The 1-2 seconds between killing the ignition and the engine shutting down is a vacuum leak. There're two lines involved in the shutdown, brown and brown/blue I think. The both connect to the ignition switch... one comes from the main brake booster line, brown I think, and the other goes to the injection pump. They're obviously hooked up, but fittings may be leaking, or the lines may have a crack. I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe examine it to understand it, so that you'll have a jump on fixing it when it fails completely.

My antennae only works intermintantly, and I'm guessing it's a bad connection somewhere... ground, prolly. I'll be looking at it and my dash lights with that in mind (Thanks TomJ).

The kill switch on top of the valve cover should be connected to the injection pump (IP) with a mechanical linkage. Look at the one and troubleshoot the other.

Have fun!

Ash

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Ash Peltier - tools, truck, tales
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1982 240D - (272,000)
1998 Honda VTR1000F(RT) Superhawk Freeway (58,000) "Madrid"
1996 Toyota T100 4x4 (84,000) "Mary Kay"