So, I go to pick up the baby girl today, full of heat, fresh oil change, found the block heater. I ask if the car can be put up on the rack so I can just check, for my own curiosity, and they did so for me.
I get under the car and look around the tranny, think i see something that might be it and stick my hand in the greasy mess. I twist the bolt (nothing had to be removed to get to it) and it's REALLY lose! Might have been 5 full turns until it stopped turning. I show the mechanic who is standing by with the light watching..
We bring her down, I wash my hands and we all cross our fingers.
Someone opens the bay door and HE BACKS HER OUT OF THE BAY!!!
And drives her right to the tranny shop NEXT DOOR to tell the tranny guy that a girl fixed the tranny and YES, HER CAR DOES HAVE THE REVERSE BAND ADJUSTMENT!
I jumped, I screamed with joy and I am still smiling.
Thank you Rick, you are DA MAN!

So, add me to the list of miracle reverse fixes!
AND I swear it goes faster backward now than forward!

Also, the shifting from 1 to 2 is smooth again. It used to be rather rough but now it's back to be almost un-noticable. Is this part of the RBA or is it because of the new amp? (Isn't part of he tranny run on vacuum?)

Thanks again, you all rock my MB world!

__________________
Ginny in Denver-ish
78 300SD, 265K (mine)

Congrats! The mechanics didn't catch the loose bolt, and you did. Maybe you should be running the shop.

__________________

The mechanic did say I should be a mech. My husband jumped in and told him that I wanted to be one. There is a diesel school right near my place.
What a great day. So many other great things happened to me and the family that I think I need to go buy a lottery ticket!

__________________
Ginny in Denver-ish
78 300SD, 265K (mine)

Ginny-

Fantastic! I wonder how many older Mercedes were condemned to death just for this little issue? Not sure why the 1-2 shift would improve due to this- maybe its just your frame of mind...


Rick

PS - Buy some tools and keep checking in here

Also- might be a good idea to add the happy ending to your old thread so that anyone else searching later can find the result....

__________________
80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Hmmmm good to know for those $500 Craigslist 300D's with the "doesn't go in reverse" label

__________________
'79 300SD
'82 Chevy Chevette diesel

That's almost exactly what I got last year- a 77 240D auto with a "no reverse" condition for $500. After hand tightening the reverse band, it works fine. I could even look down and see the shiny metal of the adjuster where it backed out.

There are more where that came from.

That, as well as the corollary in 722.3xx form, the "reverse only, no forward gears" B2 piston fix. Except this is easier if you know about it

Rick

__________________
80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Great job Ginny! Doesn't that feel good!
Now you need to find that W115 you like so much.

Exactly what model and year cars have this reverse band adjustment?? Would be good to know.....

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

JimmyL-

This would apply to anything with the 722.1xx tranny.

In diesels that would mean:

any W115
any W116

for W123s:

300Ds up to 81 (pre-turbo)
240D all ( - I think- even the late ones had the 722.1xx- someone correct me if I am wrong please)

Rick

__________________
80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Congratulations. Shifting could have improved because with a functioning amp, the servo is now working and it has a zillion vacuum functions associated with it. So vacuum levels could easily have changed in the system, changing shift performance.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

That's great! And a good bit of information to know. I'll definitely keep that in mind for those "no reverse" cars that pop up cheap from time to time.

__________________

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)

It feels fantastic!

One last thing though, I hand tightened this until I couldn't tighten anymore, then we
put the car down. Should there or Is there a way to keep the bolt from loosening again in the future? Is there a set screw to keep the bolt from vibrating loose that I should be looking for? Should I take a small wrench and tighten down a bit more? Or is it fine the way it is?
Thanks!

(I feel good, na na na na na na na)

__________________
Ginny in Denver-ish
78 300SD, 265K (mine)

if the bolt can be removed, you can drill a hole through the head, and put some safety wire on it...
It's great to know we Have some more intelligent girls out there that work on these "dirty diesels"
I sure do wish there were more of you!
Good Job!

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

You could back it out a couple turns, clean the threads with some brake clean and a tooth brush, then apply a drop of Loctite and re adjust it. Should hold after that.

__________________
82 300SD 202K
82 300SD 233K
83 300TD 340K
82 300TD 98k euro (parts on the hoof)
85 300TD 282K
83 300TD 197K

You da wo-MAN, Ginny! Good for you. Your hubby is a lucky guy, it sounds like. It is soooo satisfying to be able to fix things for oneself.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

For the benefit of the forum, could you please elaborate on the bolt that you tightened? Many of us could benefit from this information. Thank you.