I finally have my transmission shifting right, at full throttle. But at partial throttle (which is how I usually drive it considering all the around town driving I have to do) it slips into gear and occasionally will shift from 1st to 2nd, then immediately shift from 2nd to 3rd. I have done tons of research on this, but have not come up with anything that makes sense for this particular car (87 300D). I guess at this point I need to find out what controls partial throttle shifting operation. So far, these are the things I have done which have had very little, or no effect on partial throttle shifting: Adjusted the VCV many times (is currently set at 12" vaccuum at idle), disconnected the vac amp solenoid, turned in the adjustment screw on the vac amp, and turned in the adjustor on the modulator. The tranny was rebuilt recently, and worked fine untill I had the ALDA off while I was trying to rebuild it (I had plugged the pressure line).

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87 300D - Running on Veggie oil; 260,000 plus miles; Original #14 head

When plugging the line from the overboost protection solenoid to the ALDA, is it possible that you also plugged the line to the vacuum amplifier? The two lines converge in a Y near the ALDA. The amplifier needs a boost signal from the manifold to allow the transmission the proper vaccum.

I'm doubtful that this is your issue due to the symptom, but, it goes with the fact that the symptom appeared right after your plugged that line.

on '85 w123s with 617 engines have a so called bowden cable which controls the upshifts and downshifts at various engine rpms. but i dont know about the '87 models.
anyway, in case you also have this bowden cable, if there's too much slack in the cable, it upshifts at low rpm and downshifts at heavy pressure on the accel. pedal.
on the other hand, if the cable is tight, it upshifts st higher rpm, and can downshift at lighter pressure on accel pedal.

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'85 300D Turbo - CA Version

There's an adjustment for full throttle shifting??

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1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

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I did adjust the bowden cable, which helped to delay the shifts to a higher RPM. Now it upshifts around 3,000 RPM under full throttle, but it still acts wierd at partial throttle. The flaring of gears and the quick 2-3 then 3-4 shifting seems to be related, as when it's flaring the worst it will also stack the shifts. It only does this under partial throttle. Sometimes it will work fine under partial throttle, which is why it's so frustrating, because I'll think it's fixed, then when I least expect it, it acts up again Right now there aren't any vacuum lines plugged, but the power to the solenoid that controls the vac amp is still unplugged, so I know it's not a bad solenoid. One other thing that helped is there is an adjustment for the throttle. I tightened it up quite a bit, so very little pedal movement translates into a lot more power than before. This has helped me to shift at full throttle more often, but the problem with that is I get going too quick, and I'm afraid of getting caught speeding

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87 300D - Running on Veggie oil; 260,000 plus miles; Original #14 head

You can adjust the VCV???!?!?!

While on topic, my transmission needs the various spring kits and modulator.

the rod that goes from the throttle linkage...it does the same function as the "bowden cable"? what's it's optimal length? (from the pin eye to the end of the threads.)

EDIT: oh yeah, I know these transmissions are needy of modulators and B2 pistons and K1 spring kits..are there any other problematic items I should add to my fixit list?

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RIP: 80 300SD
RIP: 79 450SEL
2002 E430 4matic (212,000km)
2002 ML500 'sport'

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i like to use the lever and go thru the gears, can tell the rest is working that way, n0rt

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1980 300sd turbo 284k (parts car with bad tranny}
1980 300sd turbo 145k (daughters daily driver)
1985 300td turbo 215k (my daily driver)

You can adjust the VCV by loosening the 2 10mm bolts and twisting it around. Twisting it ccw makes the vacuum go down. But when you do that too much, the amount of pedal travel is reduced.

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87 300D - Running on Veggie oil; 260,000 plus miles; Original #14 head

I am under the impression that the bowden cable adjusts partial throttle shifting and full throttle shifting is all internal to the transmission.

Anyone???

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1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

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