I recently purchased a 1983 300d with 230k miles on the odometer. Several obvious issues existed with the vehicle that I would like to fix as soon as possible. After spending quite a few hours reading and researching the issues I wanted to ask several questions before proceeding with repairs.

Transmission:

• seems to shift normally when accelerating, but clunks really hard when braking and coming to a stop and the transmission is working back to first gear
• believe this is from a vacuum issue, most likely the vacuum modulator
• checked vacuum (on the line above) with a hand pump and discovered the modulator leaks down (to zero) within 5 seconds
• can the modulator be removed from the transmission without removing the transmission? Things seem really tight and I can not even tell how the modulator is mounted.
• I would like to remove the modulator (how much should this part cost?) to test and any help on describing the removal would be appreciated
• Is there a vacuum diagram available for a 1983 300d?

Torque converter:

• Please see the attached picture
• Is this window in the torque converter normal or is something broken?

Loose red wire:

• Please see picture
• There is a red wire with an inline fuse that enters the engine compartment through the firewall on the drivers side.
• Wire is not connected to anything and just hanging
• What is this wire for and where should it be connected?

Thanks in advance for helping out a new owner of a 123 300D! I am excited to get this thing into daily driver shape.

Attached Thumbnails