Hi ,my 85 has a intermitten tendancy
to downshift pretty hard from 4th to 3 rd when cold, The upshift is fine, but once and a while it has this problem ! thanks, j

My hard downshifting was caused by too much vac. My symptoms were like engaging the clutch (on a manual of course) while in 1st, while doing 30mph. Not sure if this is the problem you are experiencing.

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1989 300E 144K

I believe the key word you mention here is "intermittent". Usually, from what I have ran in to, harsh shifting is due to lack of vacuum and this is normally from some sort of leak. With an intermittent problem, I would suspect a flex line is starting to deteriate or loosen. A mighty vac could isolate the culprit or if most/all of the flex lines are original, you might replace the whole lot. Starting with the ones in the harshest environment, such as at the tranny vacuum modulator, you will probably eliminate this quicker.

On mine, I replaced all of the flex lines at once and eliminated most of the shifting problems. Fastlane has the 3-way and other fittings.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )