I have driven the car 2 years now with no problems. ( 1984 300SD ) Started out the driveway and it wouldn't shift so I drove it back into the yard, checked the tranny oil level. It was at the lower mark on the stick so I added a 1/2 quart of oil and it brought the level up to the full mark and guess what? the car shifted fine. Ordered a filter kit and gasket kit. My question is this. Is this normal?

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1984 300SD 175,000 Miles
1987 GSXR 1385cc
1985 GSXR Limited Edition 750cc
2005 Suzuki Burgman 650cc

DId you measure it according to the manual? Sounds normal to me.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

Normal-I don't know. But it happened with my TD just after I got it and with a Dodge Caravan at work.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

I know that the transmission oil must be checked with the car running and after shifting through all of the gears. My Haynes manual describes it, as Im sure its been described around here.

If you didnt do this procedure, you should re-check, I know you can get a false reading. Maybe your transmission oil was actually lower than you measured.

Sorry if you already did this and this was obvious to you - it sure wasnt obvious to me a few months ago.

Also, check the transmission oil cooler lines for leaks. They run up to the front of the car near the oil pan.

dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

It's normal that the car would not shift. Mine didn't shift right after I changed the fluid- I just needed to get the transmission fluid pumped around to see that I was down a bit of fluid. A little more fluid and it shifted fine. As the others have said, just check to see where it lost that pint- that is your problem.

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Andrew

1989 Volvo 745- 202K

Thanks guys for the reply. I feel better now.

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1984 300SD 175,000 Miles
1987 GSXR 1385cc
1985 GSXR Limited Edition 750cc
2005 Suzuki Burgman 650cc