Hello - I have a 1983 300D Turbo - no longer catches 1st gear, now I can't drive - not leaking, fluid is proper - all it does is rev high and does not shift or catche any more - if I do somehow get it to go into 1st gear I am fine - help - thank you.

anyone care to post links?

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1987 300D (230,000 mi on a #14 head-watching the temp gauge and keeping the ghost in the machine)
Raleigh NC - Home of deep fried sushi!

Search for threads discussing these issues.

John

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Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
2002 F250 powerstroke with Plantdrive WVO conversion
1983 300SD 190K miles ,sold
2006 E320 CDI

Go here http://dieselgiant.com/Mercedesb2pistonsealreplacementl.htm

__________________
-Randy Wakefield

1969 220D 4 speed (parts car)
1976 280C
1976 280S
1981 240D 4 speed (parts car)
1982 300D
1983 300TD (Ivory)
1983 300TD (gold)
1985 300TD (gray)
1987 190D 2.5
1970 280SEL (sold)
1977 240D 4 speed (sold)
1974 280 (rusted to death)
---
1927 Chevy 4 door sedan
1938 Chevy 2 door sedan
1950 Willys Jeepster
1955 Studebaker President 4 door
1977 Ford F250
1979 Glastron 17'
1948 John Deere A
1960 John Deere 2010
1979 Satoh S650G
--
2000 Bichon (Doby)

hello - thanks for the responses - I did do research on threads and other sites. Well - I just checked out the B2 link from DieselBone - thanks it is actually pretty helpful - some other sites I checked out seem to say that the B2 really only affected shifting between gears like 3-4, not never being able to get into gear in the first place. Question though - if I am not leaking tranny fluid (does not seem to be - level same for many months) could it still be the B2?

I have also played with the boden cable and it did not seem to make a difference.

I don't have the tools for vacuum testing - I am willing to buy and figure it out - is there an easy troubleshooting method to determine if vacuum is a cause? such as disconnecting the line completely - which I think would result in hard shifts - perhaps I have too much vac going?

The shifter is also a bit messed up - I used to have to over shift past D to get it to catch - now doesn't seem to catch anything - could this be a cause?

I guess I am looking for any possible simple troubleshooting methods that I would be able to discern whether or not something is contributing to the issue - without having to replace parts or go through rigorous inspection, tinkering and replacing parts.

Sounds like the only way to figure out the B2 is to get to it - which in itself takes some time - also with vacuum seems like much time to spend on it when it could be fine.

I am not looking for shortcuts to solve the problem - I just believe there must be some way to properly troubleshoot the issue in order to narrow it down from a giant freakin list of possibilities.

Does this make sense - is it possible. I used to be a technician for a Japanese engineering firm working on large format solvent inkjet printers. The first thing we learned was how to diagnose, troubleshoot and quickly rule out possibilities to save time. The actual repair might take time - but we could figure it out quickly.

Before you go and take the tranny out or pay $$$ fora rebuild take a look at the valve body. Drain the fluid and pull the pan down. On the front of the valve body there are some flat metal plates held on by philips screws. Be carefull not to get ANY dirt in the valve body while it is exposed. Carefully remove the philips screws and remove the plates ONE AT A TIME and make sure that the springs or spring assemblies inside are not broken. The one on the drivers side bottom is for the 2-3 shift. I am not sure which is which for the others but this is pretty easy to do and costs nothing. If you find a broken spring there is a kit that you can buy that comes with new springs for all the shifts here:
superior-transmission.com/products/shift_correction/722ad_cnts.htm

If no springs are broken my guess is a check ball is stuck somewhere in the valve body but that is only a guess. Hope this helps.

Thanks chopprs - are you talking about spring kits? would this also explain not being able to get into gear in the first place?

If so I found a great link I think for the process explained:
http://www.hevanet.com/patbob/MercedesK1SpringKit/SpringKitInstall.html

is this what you are talking about? it only seems to show 1 spring - how many are there - all the same place - etc... ??

No, you do not need a spring kit and don't take the valve body off. Lets take this slow. Does the car function in reverse correctly? If that works, its leaning towards the B2. When my B2 went out, you could push the car and get it moving and the trans would shift into 3 and 4 normally, but if you stoped, the car would not move. What the B2 piston does is push on the 1st gear band and allows it to "catch" and engage 1st gear, put simply. Once the piston breaks, no 1st gear. The B2 can be replaced w/o pulling the tranny. This is also not a vacc problem. Also, you said something about the shifter, make sure its still attached to the shift rod and is working right too, try shifting in S or L and see if it just has a lot of slop in it. Let us what happens.

__________________
-Randy Wakefield

1969 220D 4 speed (parts car)
1976 280C
1976 280S
1981 240D 4 speed (parts car)
1982 300D
1983 300TD (Ivory)
1983 300TD (gold)
1985 300TD (gray)
1987 190D 2.5
1970 280SEL (sold)
1977 240D 4 speed (sold)
1974 280 (rusted to death)
---
1927 Chevy 4 door sedan
1938 Chevy 2 door sedan
1950 Willys Jeepster
1955 Studebaker President 4 door
1977 Ford F250
1979 Glastron 17'
1948 John Deere A
1960 John Deere 2010
1979 Satoh S650G
--
2000 Bichon (Doby)

Thanks DieselBone - I am all for taking is slow, but quickly if that makes any sense.

I went throught the article DIY you posted - looks doable. I just dropped my car off to the local Mercedes repair person Peter Vanderveer - he is pretty good - has helped me before.

The weather here is not for repair like this without a garage which I don't have. I am going to see what they say down the street and figure out whether or not I am going to keep and repair this car or time for a new one (I do like this car although many repairs have taken place).

I will get back to everyone with the diagnosis - - - >

I had similar symptoms when my bowden cable connection on top of the valve cover somehow jumped backwards off its track. (reversed itself). Took me about an hour to figure it out...but I was terrified thinking my tranny gave out. I brought it back into position, and my car was moving again...
Good luck...Hope its simple/cheap

Hello all - I just got word on the phone from Vanderveer motors - I should be driving tomorrow. Maybe you guys can make more sense of this than my self, the phone was static like and he seemed in a hury so what I got from him is something about the servo and worn clutch disks - something was cracked in half, maybe the drum part of the hydrolic pressure wouldn't engage - kind of gargled at this point I know. does this make sense to anyone?

I will find out exactly what it was tomorrow morning (sure there is plenty more wrong with it I will attempt to fix on my own this spring with nicer weather) - - - - >

I had an issue where my '85 300d kind of 'flared' between gears. I'm not sure if it's 1st to 2nd or 3rd to 4th but after ordering and installing the K1 spring kit mentioned...ALL IS WELL!
Pretty cool $5.60 tip (for the K1 kit)!
I'm going to order a couple more of 'em just to make us look like heroes when someone complains of the same issues with their diesel and think that the tranny's going out!
I'd tried adjusting the kick-down cable and vacuum modulator with no success.
The spring kit was an instant success. Smoother initial shift, too.
WOO HOO!
Thanks for the great tip!


Fat Jonny

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'81 SILVER BLUE 300SD
204,xxx


GEORGE WASHINGTON