flaring on '83 300d, only 188k miles - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

BoiseBenz · #1 01-28-2010, 11:27 PM

Looking at taking it in "good-guy" partial trade for my other '83. Flares for up to THREE SECONDS during 2-3 and 3-4 shifts under heavy accel. 1-2 seems to be "less than" (?) one second. Locks up nicely under power braking, and reverse seems to work fine. Disconnecting vacuum and bowden cable make no difference.

Could this be something "simple," like every spring in the valve body is broken? One flare, a B2, or a leak I can manage, but every gear???

Fluid is full and smells freshish. Also has major blow-by and a bad white-over-gold respray. Zero rust, but poor car . . . it would be nice to keep it on the road.

TylerH860 · #2 01-28-2010, 11:30 PM

Too much vacuum?

layback40 · #3 01-29-2010, 08:40 AM

Try screwing in your T in the modulator valve, or better still check and adjust the trans fluid pressure. There is a thread on the proper way to do this.
If that doesnt help the flaring problem then you may have look a bit deeper. If it has been doing it for 10 or 20k miles like that and being driven in conditions with a lot of gear changing, the trans clutches may be in very bad shape.

Carpenterman · #4 01-29-2010, 10:01 AM

First thing I would do is plug the vacuum to the transmission to see if the shifts firm up. Depending on what happens, that would at least rule out vacuum problems.

nickofoxford · #5 01-30-2010, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carpenterman

First thing I would do is plug the vacuum to the transmission to see if the shifts firm up. Depending on what happens, that would at least rule out vacuum problems.

You mean unplug the vacuum to the transmission, that's what I did with mine and it sure firmed things up a bit.

layback40 · #6 01-30-2010, 02:35 AM

nick,
It sounds like your trans needs a modulator adjustment with the T. A flare on changes will soon destroy clutch packs.

nickofoxford · #7 01-30-2010, 02:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by layback40

nick,
It sounds like your trans needs a modulator adjustment with the T. A flare on changes will soon destroy clutch packs.

I wish you would of told me this a month ago!

I got things straightened out, thanks though I appreciate it.

BoiseBenz · #8 01-30-2010, 11:16 AM

Hi folks,

Thanks for the replies so far. In my first post I noted that unhooking the bowden and vacuum connections did NOTHING. I expected whiplash shifts with no vacuum, but they're still equally squishy. Any other ideas? Is it possible that a spring(s) kit might help, or is this likely an internal problem.

I've been inside a few of these 722.3 trannys for band, seal, and B2 work, but I never experienced one that was so mushy on all shifts.

tangofox007 · #9 01-30-2010, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoiseBenz

Is it possible that a spring(s) kit might help, or is this likely an internal problem.

One thing is for sure: if it's not an internal problem, a spring kit certainly won't help.

nickofoxford · #10 01-30-2010, 02:48 PM

sticky modulator? try giving a small bit of pressure on the transmission line to "break" it free if that's the problem.. small things first man

Maki · #11 01-31-2010, 12:51 PM

You need to tighten the Bowden cable to get later (and tighter) shifts. Disconnecting it does the opposite. A loose Bowden cable will give you a lot of flare.