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  #1  
Old 02-10-2011, 10:13 PM
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Transmission won't shift to fourth

I've got a '92 330SD with a 7223 tranny in it. The tranny is rebuilt from Sun Valley and is two years old, probably about 40K on it. I had it out the other day and after about seven miles to get to an interstate, when I accelerated up to speed, it missed fourth and just raced. I shifted back to third and then up to drive and it caught and ran fine until I stopped and started up again. Then it would not shift to fourth at all.

After you let it sit for a while, you get fourth again, but it disappears after something like five to ten miles. I think it has been a little late going to fourth for some time, but not much.

It's not clear to me whether something has failed by breaking or worn, but given the age of the thing, I'd guess something is sort of broke (sorta since it works when cold). Fluid is OK. Any ides out there?

Thanks in advance

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  #2  
Old 02-10-2011, 10:20 PM
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I had this in my 30oSDL when my bowden cable got stuck. This changed shift points and I had a hard time to get into 4. However you'll notice this with higher shift points in the lower gears.
I had to change the bowden cable.
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  #3  
Old 02-10-2011, 11:08 PM
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If it is missing the gear and flying into open rev, the trans is likely nearing rebuild-day. Clutch packs for 4th are probably just about shot or something else has failed.
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  #4  
Old 02-10-2011, 11:28 PM
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Those things have a kick-down switch? If so, disconnect it. Maybe its broke and causing intermittent signals.
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  #5  
Old 02-11-2011, 12:24 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LandYaghtLover View Post
Those things have a kick-down switch? If so, disconnect it. Maybe its broke and causing intermittent signals.
I considered this, but if that were the case it would simply max out in 3rd and not shift....they said its disengaging and revving freely.
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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)
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  #6  
Old 02-11-2011, 01:24 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by werminghausen View Post
I had this in my 30oSDL when my bowden cable got stuck. This changed shift points and I had a hard time to get into 4. However you'll notice this with higher shift points in the lower gears.
I had to change the bowden cable.
How could you tell it was stuck?
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  #7  
Old 02-11-2011, 08:55 AM
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A couple of things.
First, it has over revved just the one time. It has not displayed a lot of flare (which I think is brief, short term over revving between gears) to this point, though there have been instances, all of which were when the tranny was quite cold (I live in Vermont). And, contrary to the previous observation, it does now work for a short period when it is cold.

Second, it is a rebuilt tranny and is only two years old. Sun Valley gets good marks on this site, so I wonder if the valves can be worn. I did not replace the Bowden cable when the transmission was installed.

And yes, how do you tell if the Bowden cable is stuck?
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Old 02-11-2011, 08:56 PM
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Hmmm.............I see no mention of checking fluid level. Mine has similar symptoms if the fluid gets low. Even 1/2 pint low with a cold transmission can be flaky.
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  #9  
Old 02-27-2011, 06:02 PM
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When 'it' happens the car seems to be unwilling to shift except for when you rev the engine. It hurts your ear, so you will be hesitant doing it to cause an upshift.
If it happened I shut down the engine popped the hood and inspected the cable....it is tricky and the cable fooled me several times. The cable pulled back slowly sometimes and at the time I was opening the hood to get to it the sucker was back to normal. But I figured it out and it was the cable.
Don't buy the cheap Uro part! if you replace the cable because you'll regret if you do.
(Another thing that comes up often on the Forum is a stuck kick down switch...but mine was fine. And I don't know what a stuck kick down switch does really.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by biopete View Post
How could you tell it was stuck?
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  #10  
Old 03-09-2011, 11:04 AM
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My Tranny works now! Woo hoo. Symtoms were after warmup and on long drive it would not upshift until it hit the max shift point. It would be stuck in 2nd gear on highway at 60 mph. Occassionally it would slip into high gear or get stuck in between and flare. Adding fresh tranny fluid helped.

Problem was the tranny cooler was plugged. I replaced radiator with integral tranny cooler from my parts car which had a new one. Now the problem has not come back since. its been 4 days of driving now. Blowing through the tranny cooler on both radiators you can tell which one is plugged. One side effect is my engine runs a few degrees hotter at times. But overall its between 90 and 100 all the time mostly at 95 i would say. I haven't seen it go over 100C since the radiator change even up big hills with a trailer. Very pleased.

Check your tranny cooler. If you tranny cooler line is super hot to touch on both sides of the cooler you may have a restriction. Mine would burn my fingers.
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  #11  
Old 03-09-2011, 12:33 PM
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Change out fluids and filter

When my SDL Trans which I think is similar would not go into 4th I tried everything but change the trans oil (including the T. Converter oil). Added some Trans-x (1-pint), new filter, and equally important put MD-3 fluid in. Solved the problem.

I previously had run low due to leaks, had put MD-5 in 'cause it was all I could get while on the road. Problems started. Now it shifts fine. You also may check to see if you can manually shift from 3rd to 4th (i.e start in D3 or what ever yours is, and wait until around 2,700 rpms, let off the fuel and shift to 4th).

What does Sun Valley say about it? I'm about to buy one from them due to 317k miles and leaks. Thought they had a pretty good warranty program. If past warranty I'd think they would give you some tips.
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Old 03-09-2011, 12:52 PM
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Change the fluid and filter and look for silt. If there is lots of friction material in the fluid, it will fould the filter and lower control pressure. This can be resolved by parking the car and letting the fluid (and silt) settle for a while, and aggrivated by high-rpm that picks up more silt due to the high flow.

A new filter should help, but you might have some slipping causing more wear (and thus more friction material in the fluid) so pressures should be checked.
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Old 08-22-2012, 03:34 PM
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Sun Valley recommendation

Quote:
Originally Posted by 86-300sdl View Post
When my SDL Trans which I think is similar would not go into 4th I tried everything but change the trans oil (including the T. Converter oil). Added some Trans-x (1-pint), new filter, and equally important put MD-3 fluid in. Solved the problem.

I previously had run low due to leaks, had put MD-5 in 'cause it was all I could get while on the road. Problems started. Now it shifts fine. You also may check to see if you can manually shift from 3rd to 4th (i.e start in D3 or what ever yours is, and wait until around 2,700 rpms, let off the fuel and shift to 4th).

What does Sun Valley say about it? I'm about to buy one from them due to 317k miles and leaks. Thought they had a pretty good warranty program. If past warranty I'd think they would give you some tips.
Sorry to take so long to get back to you. It started working right about March of last year and I did not look at the thread again. I think Sun Valley is probably a good bet especially as you live near them. They shipped me the rebuilt and I had it installed here. It had a three year warranty and they said they would "work with me" if it failed, though they obviously would not pay for the R & R.

In response to the current situation, they sent me a new valve body, which lists for over $1,000. I had to heckle them for it, but they apparently did not have one come in for rebuild and got a new one instead. I installed it because they sent it and they wanted the core, but the tranny was working at the time. (It had gone back to working while I was heckling them.)

It's got this behavior again, but now I have been able to duplicate it on command. I don't think it is anything organic to the mechanism as it worked for about two years after I installed it and then started with the not-being-able-to-run-in-4th behavior. It started off being able to run in fourth but as soon as you shifted down after about six miles it would not go back up.

It disappeared but last reappeared just now. Interestingly, it appears to happen only in the Fall and Winter, but not always. However, it is repeatable now. Starting from a dead cold, overnight, it will run properly for up to six miles. However, if it is going to fail, it will flare and go to neutral, i.e., no connection between the drive shaft and the engine. The only way you can get it reestablish drive is to manually shift it down to 3rd. It then grabs and runs fine in 1st, 2nd,and 3rd and won't go to fourth. Even with the shift lever in 4th, it will only go to 3rd. Occasionally, it will spontaneously go to fourth, but I have not found a way to force it.

Since it spontaneously fixed itself last time and ran for a year without incident, I expect it is something to do with the fluid or the filter. Sun Valley recommended to change the filter and use a Mann (good quality) replacement and add a product called Prolong which is apparently a friction reducer. I'm about to do that. Sun Valley says that the filters sometimes crush and restrict flow. I haven't observed that, but a lot of the filter is enclosed.

See my post later on in this thread regarding Sun Valley. I perhaps misinterpreted their apparent lack of response when trying to noodle this out the first time. They have been, I would say, most attentive and cooperative this time 'round and I would recommend them to anyone.

Last edited by pokeyarw; 08-26-2012 at 03:58 PM.
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  #14  
Old 08-23-2012, 08:17 PM
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I have a 87 300D, 124.133.
Your problem sounds similar to a trans shifting problem I had last year. It progressively got worse over about 2 months. Started out flaring on the shift and then would just seem as if it went to neutral on the shift. I was able to manually shift it for about a month, but then it got to where it just would not shift. (Manually shifting it raises the line pressure)

I poked around on the internet and found a Russian transmission site where transmission mechanics posted problems to other trans mechanics. Don't know why they used english, but they did.

One of the guys said to remove the rear valve body and check the mesh screen that was contained within one of the oil channels.

Just as he described, this fairly course mesh screen was plugged with clutch particles (not clutch dust, but chunks). I cleaned out the particles and the trans has worked since. Got about 22K more miles on it and drive it every day.

This is the rear most valve body, not the large one.
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  #15  
Old 08-24-2012, 08:51 AM
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7223 transmission won't shift to fourth

Thanks for the info. It looks promising. The only difference appears to be that the tranny continues to go to fourth on a cold startup. However, I suppose dirty filters can produce any kind of intermittent behavior. I changed the main filter and the fluid yesterday to no avail.

I'm attaching a part diagram which is the only one I could find on EPC with a screen or filter on it, other than the main filter. Is 520 the screen to which you refer?
Thanks again.
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Transmission won't shift to fourth-transmission-screen.jpg  

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