I'm looking at the Sun Valley Mercedes Dismantlers website, and they have vacuum diagrams for various Merz transmissions. Which designation do I have? '85 Federal 300D turbo. My trans is shifting a bit too hard and also clunking on the 3-4 and 4-3 shifts, so I suspect too little vacuum to the modulator, but hey what do I know. The vacuum system on this car really puts the zap on my head. Golly gee all those lines confuse me and I get epileptic seizures just from looking at them.
I was out late last night about 12 am goin' 'round the beltway in DC 'blowing' the car out. Since I will probably at the most get to put maybe 5k/year on the car if I get really busy, I want to make sure it gets some exercise whenever I can find the time. I exited at Wisconsin Ave, and went through Bethesda on my way back home. I usually use S for city driving but I had it in D at the time. I floored it going about 40 and hit the kickdown switch. It kicked down to first or second, dunno which one, RPMs went up immediately and I then realized I did not want to be in such a low gear and took my foot out of it and it immediately shifted to a higher gear. I remember thinking at the time that maybe it was not so good to do that sort of thing. I'm still getting used to this car. The 3-4 & 4-3 clunking was always present(at least since I acquired it 4 mths ago), but it seemed that after the stressful time I had given it, it was now more pronounced. Maybe it's just my imagination, I'll go for another drive tonight. 1-2, 2-3 shifts in S are crisp and lack the clunk. Whenever I am in D though, it seems as though all shifts exhibit the clunk, unless the thing is floored. 4-3 clunks as I am slowing down. Just had the diff oil changed 800 mi after I had changed it myself(Redline Shockproof, previously Valvoline Full Synth), as I had to have 2 new axles installed.
This is a most disconcerting noisy clunk. I know it's probably vacuum related, at least I hope. BTW the ignition cutoff is no longer instantaneous. It takes about a second or so. The door locks work, but don't have but 3 or 4 cycles before they run out of vacuum if the engine's off. Seems as though the center vents take a bit of time to start blowing also, after the other ones are at full output. After this episode, I checked trans fluid, about 1/4" above full mark when hot, no foam and transparent red- I checked it before(on my trip from GA to DC) when it was hot and it only registered at the full mark. I previously changed the filter and fluid with Valvoline Maxlife. Is that stuff OK?
I am truly sorry to keep bugging the forums for help with my problems, and I have read pages of threads I searched for already. I feel like I still need a specific answer to my dilemma. From my understanding I have a vacuum leak. But- did I overstress the trans and hurt something? I usually drive like grandma compared to everyone else, and every little thing- even just hitting a pothole- makes me lose sleep thinking about it. So this latest workout I gave the car has gotten me worried that I might have torn something up in there. thanks

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

Without fixing the vacuum leak, you'll increase the wear on the trans, flex disks and the half shafts. Not to mention the rear differential will have increased wear.

Find the vacuum leak. I found the same leak location on 2 different cars, check right next to the main vacuum pipe coming off the brake booster. The rubber hose going to the transmission had a crack in it. $0.15 fix.

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84 300DT Puke Yellow. Totalled after 438,000
84 300DT Orient Red. 169,000 (actual mileage may vary)
2002 Explorer EB (wife's)

LOL...... can anybody understand a word of what this person is trying to say?

But judging by the title of this thread, all this gibberish has something to do with tranny designations. So I'd say go visit the MB dealership parts counter to get the exact numbers you need.

D.

If your car came with the original maintenance
booklet then in the back there is a page
with all the info.

Look for "Getriebe": Should read 722.3XX

If not then I would say, 722.315


Louis.

Thanks, tool. You're a gent. I was typing in ENGLISH by the way. The other people seemed to understand just fine.
Much obliged to the people whom gave me the info without the BS attached to it.

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

The #s are stamped on the right side of the trans just above the pan. There are two sets. One set will say something like 722.315 followed by a six digit serial #. The second set will be the MB part #. You have a 722 series, but you need to know the next three digits. 722.xxx.

Peter

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