Thanks guys for all of your responses. To answer a couple of questions, the vacumn modulator line is attached. I can rev up to about 4000 rpms and there is no shift. It starts in second. I can downshift to first with the shift selector. A little more history. The po had let the car sit for close to a year. He had bought it for his wife and it did not fit her aggressive style of driving. He is a long distance trucker and prefers a pickup when he is home. His kids didn't want it so he put it up for sale. I do know that he had the head replaced. That was done by a local shop that specializes in foreign vehicles. They did some work on one of my BMWs. Good quality, but pricey. Also had the air conditioning converted and put on a new compressor. It has r134 and despite the posts I have read it performs quite well. That leaves me with one question that no one responded to. How complicated a job is it to replace the transmission? I have slightly above average skills and am very patient.

It's not difficult, just a major PITA in the driveway. Unless you know someone with a lift, it's worth the cash to pay someone to toss it in for you.

Don't forget about a new flex disc and trans mount.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

I replaced the transmission in a 78 450SEL and an 81 300SD by myself. Not difficult at all. I was able to do both jobs without dropping the prop shaft. Very easy to work in an MB engine bay... in fact it's downright enjoyable compared to the @#$%^! Caravan.

I'm curious about second gear start. My 87 SDL starts in first as I thought all SDLs do.

Sixto

You know, I don't remember for sure how it started before I started having this problem. I do know that it is starting in second now. When I talked to the guy at the local shop and was telling him about it, he said all Mercedes started in second. Not having any previous Mercedes automatic experience, I thought he knew what he was talking about. My first car was a 220 with a 4 speed on the column. Wish I had that one again.

SDL's all start in first gear. If it isn't something is wrong. Actualy all diesel W126's start in first gear.

Second gear start was something stupid that they messed around with for awhile. Cars like the 300SEL's were cursed with it.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Yeah, I can't imagine how bad those are to drive in town with four people, A/C on, and in the middle of the summer.

I'm tryin to figure out the valve body differences here as I have a first gear start Euro 380 VB to pick up. Then I'll take one off the trans out of my 420 and take each bore passage apart. Soon we'll see.

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Supposidly their is a way to over ride it. I forget how, because I don't need to remember since all of my cars start in first.

I really don't understand what MB hoped to gain with 2nd gear start. Ever so slightly better mpg's maybe?

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I really don't see how as it lugs the car down so much. First gear start for the stripper 560 is gonna be kickass I think with Euro Tri-Ys and no emission parts.

There used to be something you could wire up from Bergwerks but they're gone now. Somone charged ~$220 to rebuild it to a first gear start too.

Also I need a new kickdown solenoid, the SDL gets stuck in 4th at 20mph and doesn't downshift.

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Hey, at least you don't have a new Corvette Z06. It has a MANUAL TRANSMISSION that will shift into 4th when you put it in the 2nd spot, unless some silly condition is met. Thankfully GM made it arbitrarily easy to disconnect.

EDIT- But at least it starts in first .

It is there to get around gas guzzler crap. It's the ol' T56 skip shift, not just on a Z06... anything with the T56 does it from GM.

The usual condition is more normal acceleration so you're not left tach'd up in 3rd (which is almost like 4th gear in terms of ratios... one is 1.41:1 and 1:1)

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

I second this. There is nothing complex about R&R that trans with a pair of jackstands and a floor jack. The only "slightly" unusual tool needed is a 46mm wrench to loosen the driveshaft collet near the center bearing so the front shaft can be slid back slightly. Caravan....I rebuilt one of those too. I wish I could forget removing that trans - what a chore!! Of course, it would have been easier to drop the whole front suspension to remove it.

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

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

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

Doesn't surprise me, the Z06 seems to have a regular stick in the center console. Must be a computer over ride.

Stupid GM, don't care really I would never buy a Vette, I'd buy an old 911 first and Porsche has no such hang ups.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200