I'm a student about 300 miles from home, and have a 126 300SD that keeps blowing the number 10 fuse when i accelerate hard enough to downshift. I troubleshooted all of the other possible causes (ac compressor short, short in the reverse lights) The items I know that run off this fuse are the reverse lights, blower fan for the HVAC, AC compressor, and LCD temp gauge. When it blows, it leaves the heating vents open, so as the engine heats up, so does my car. Mainly I want to find an easy way to rig it so I can have the front winshield defrosting portion of the HVAC for my drive home at thanksgiving . I have a feeling me using "D" and third gear as if they are manual has something to do with the underlying cause of this (a Car like this in the extremely mountainess area I live in is almost as slow as walking without some added encouragement). Any suggestions?

on the w123 blowing the fuse when stepping on the kickdown
switch is often caused by a frayed wire running to the transmission.
it frays on steel bracing just ahead of the tranny.

don

Switching between 4th and 3rd manually is no different then when you do it via the kickdown switch, it won't cause any problems.

I second the vote on a frayed or shorted kickdown switch/wire.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Thanks for the replys, do you know if there is anyway I could gain access to that wire without the use of a lift or specialty tools?

reach under the car with a phillips screwdriver and remove the screw holding the wire to the kickdown solenoid. You do not need a lift or jack.

__________________
'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

excuse my ignorance, but im not too good with this sort of stuff. if i remove that screw, that will break the circuit from the kickdown wire right? once that is done, can i put a fuse back in and it won't be blown because without a complete circuit it will just be irrelevant, therefore keeping all the other systems on fuse 10 working, and not having to wory about another blown fuse. If thats the case, that would be perfect, because i can just use d, 3 and 2 as need be. Thanks in advance!

PS. are there any visual cues for identifying this area?

the wire is easy to find (on the w123). it just floats from its exit at
the bottom of the floor over to the tranny. there is a metal bracket
it rubs on. just use electrical tape and wrap the wire.

don

thanks a lot for all the info, this will help out a lot and make my 300 mile trip home about 100% more tolerable! mine is actually a 126, but I have talked with some others with 126s and they seem to think that that idea is the best case, temp fix. I really appreicate it!

my heater/blower/ac fan blew out over and over, until i sanded down #10 fuse holder. no problem since.