There is a reason Brian is a moderator here and he has helped countless folks when they have asked for it ,myself included, I would heed his advise and take full advantage of what he is willing to share,best of luck,Johnny :)

Advice is already being taken, appointment is cancelled. There is no reason to rush this and screw it up, or spend a ton of $$$ that isn't needed.

Send me a PM
 

There are some very good independent shops in St. Louis and there are a few that you should stay away from.
I just bought a car that had been serviced at one of the shops you should avoid. It had a bad transmission fluid leak that turned out to be a loose bolt where the dipstick tube went into the transmission. I wonder how it got loose and if the shop was trying to sell the previous owner a transmission job.

Excellent.

Send Tom a PM and find a shop that is trustworthy. Replacement of that transmission is the very last thing you want to do............and only if all other options have been completely explored and failed to reduce or cure the problem.

PM sent.
From my experiences thus far I can say that the DIY route seems like the best way if you can find the appropriate guidance, manuals, etc. Rather than shopping through the 4 shops to find somebdy that won't try to rip you off.

Ok, so today while reading this http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/158216-its-critical-how-you-set-your-transmissions-vacuum-system-your-diesel-mbz.html I saw somebody had a similar climate control problem to what mine does, (defroster is the only place any airflow comes out of.) He turns on the defroster before shifts to help bleed off vacuum. I figured that this was worth a shot, because it shifted fine until I had driven all over the place, and built up enough vacuum for the locks to work consistently. Lo and behold, problem is found, or at least considerably diminished.
How do I now go about hunting down vacuum leaks? I know I need to buy a mighty vac. There are a lot of vac hoses under the hood and I'm sure elsewhere.
Are there any books I should pic up?
I will still be doing the transmission fluid and filter myself, I figure that couldn't hurt.

OK, but your model (BTW, if you go to "user cp" on the blue bar and enter the year and model of your car, it makes it a little easier for folks to help.;) ) the door locks work on an independant vac/press. system that has a pump in the spare tire well of the trunk.

That is an excellent thread you mentioned for trying to figure out shifting problems. And yes, vacuum leaks will definitely cause shifting problems. There are vacuum diagrams for several models in the DIY section. Obtain a mightyvac and try this link:http://articles.mbz.org/transmission/adjust/

If you find that you have an intermittent problem, I've found that replacing all of the flex fittings cure a lot of ails for about $10. You will find a lot of satisfaction in fixing this yourself.;)

Now that I'm positive that nothing is wrong with the transmission, I'll make you a deal:

You go out and purchase a Mityvac and I'll fix that vacuum system, and the transmission shift points, step by step, right on the forum for you..........

But, you must agree to take each step.......one at a time.....because I can't see what you're doing.

You'll also need some 4mm vacuum tubing (from the dealer) and various sizes of vacuum connectors.

Ok, I managed to get a mityvac, and I also raided my fathers tools, and found an independant vacuum guage that I thought might come in handy. They are within a 1/2"hg of each other. As far as the tubes go, do I have to have 4mm(need to call a dealer) or will 3.96mm(O'Reily, around the corner) work ok?

Firstly, let's see what vacuum you have going to the Vacuum Control valve.

It's on the top of the IP, near the back, and it has a vacuum hose that plugs directly into a nipple on the top of the unit. There will be a small green and white dampener in the line.

Pull this line off and attach the vacuum gauge to the line. Start the engine and let me know what the vacuum level is.

Ok, so I did what you asked. I measured the vacuum before the dampener. I was originall going to check both sides, but after I got a good solid 1"hg I figured that I might have found something worth reporting, and so I tried it again, and got the same thing.

Seems like that would indicate either a (huge)leak someplace or a bad vacuum pump.

Yep, you've got a huge leak.

Follow very carefully:

1) On the top of the valve cover is a black box. There are three vacuum lines that go into a plug on the front of the box. One line goes to a temperature switch on the thermostat housing. Remove this line and toss it.

2) Now there are two remaining lines that are in the plug. Remove one of the lines and follow it back to a rubber "T". Pull it out of the "T" and toss it. There is now an open port. Remove the "T" completely and substitute a small piece of vacuum tubing to connect the remaining 2 lines.

3) Now there is one remaining line in the plug. Remove that line and follow it back to a second rubber "T". Pull it out of the "T" and toss it.
There is now an open port. Remove the "T" completely and substitute a small piece of vacuum tubing to connect the remaining 2 lines.


4) Repeat the vacuum test on the hose to the vacuum control valve. Make sure that your test is only on the hose.........do not T into the line. The hose should be disconnected from the VCV and your Mityvac should be measuring the output of the hose.

Just a quick question before I do this step... Is this going to cause the car to be undrivable or is this also part of the cleaning up of unneeded vacuum lines?

Would I advise you to do something that would render your vehicle undriveable??:confused:

Follow the steps, carefully, and report back with your findings.

Just wanted to know if this was the kind of thing I should pull the other car out from the inside of the driveway.