What...?
So I noticed a small cube shaped object just in front of the expansion tank on my '82 W123 300 D Turbodiesel. It contains what looks like stainless steel coils (10 or 12awg, solid). Is it a heater of some sort? I haven't been able to get it to turn on, or do anything - is it a heat sink? Is it some place for extra power to dissapate or something? It is a mystery to me!

Bummer...!
So - I'm slipping badly in 1st gear. Second and up are fine, R is fine too. Getting encough speed to get into second is a lot of work though - especiall freaky at stop signs when the cross traffic does not stop. I've read dieselgiant's great pictoral on the B2 piston, and think that might be it, but... What are some things I need to look for in order to accurately diagnose the problem? Are there any other clues I might be missing? Any other likly cuases? Any other great threads out there on this subject?

Thanks for the help.

-John Paul

For the slipping you might make sure you transmission modulator is working properly. You should be able to use your migty vac and pull some vac and have it leak down slowly. If you can't get any vac or it drops rapidly you need a new modulator. You might also try a ATF and filter change.

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That heater sounds like a resistor pack. Yes, it's to dissipate extra power. I am not very familiar with your car, but it is probably for the blower or auxiliary fan, or both.

That box full of springs contains the resistors for the speed changing of the heater / A/C fan. Like the resistor grids under an old trolley for changing speed there as well.

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1961 190Db retired
1968 220D/8 325,000
1983 300D 164,150

I've always wondered, now that the resistor box is mentioned, if it's possible to change the speed at which the fan blows. See I've always heard here on the board that the minimum blower speed for the automatic climate control unit III is very low, and so is the maximum blower speed. So I was curious if anybody has modified the resistor box to make the A/C blower run a bit faster in minimum setting, or at least make the maximum setting a tad stronger?

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I bet its possible.....I agree on the fan speeds, I'd prefer just to have a 3-4 position manual control for that. Low is never enough and it likes to go to speed 5 when I ask for cool air (I don't have A/C so the auto-throttling for temp doesn't work) It does do the speeds correctly (and very nicely) when I am using the heat though, so its not a huge issue, its actually very nice that it adjusts like that.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

If it is possible to shunt (that is parellel) the low speed coil with another or series of them the speed at low should increase as you have decreased the series resistance of the original coil. May take a bit of fooling around if there is enough room.

The main concern is how to attach the additional resistance element. A lot depends on what those coils are made of. They are not stainless in my opinion as twelve or 14 gauge stainless would offer very little practical resistance. More likely they are nichrome.
An old rugged low value war surplus rehostat of lower value resistancewise in parellel with the low speed coil would allow you to customize the speed. It has to be cheap and capable of handeling fair current so something like a surplus one is probably the only affordable way to go. .

Thanks for the info! Mystery of the resistor box solved.

Where exactly is the transmission modulator? Filter is pretty new, as is fluid.