How do I install kickdown solenoid?
 

Just got my green machine back after I had traded it for a slightly older W123/300D over a year ago. The guy removed a bunch of parts -- alternator, some glow plugs, little things in the door (stuff that should be easy enough to figure out) but also the kickdown solenoid, which he explained is part of the transmission. My usual mechanical guru is stranded on the east coast at the moment, so I need to install it myself. Is this a very difficult task?

Not really that hard but you do have to be able to get underneath the car (unless the transmission is sitting on a work bench). Remove the bolt holding it in, pull the bolt from the old solenoid and re-install the new one in reverse order.

The solenoid is already out, so there is no "old one" to use as a reference. I'm trying to put it back in. Not sure why he took it out in the first place.

My mechanic friend said it has to be adjusted and made it sound like a fairly daunting task. I still don't know where it goes and can't find it in the 300D manual.

Take a look at post 37 in this thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/304903-722-118-automatic-transmission-rebuild-monster-diy-3.html

And post 2 for this picture...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/..._box-under.jpg

...showing you where several parts are positioned.

My kickdown solenoid looks a bit different from the one in post #37...not sure if it's the same one he pulled out or just another one he had sitting around. I'm a bit puzzled how all the pieces fit together. There's a metal bracket the same shape as the solenoid, as if the solenoid is supposed to sit inside of it, but the bracket is too small. You can't tell from the photo, but there's a part number engraved in the metal bracket. A quick Google search identifies it as the kickdown solenoid valve: 000 304 0890
http://i578.photobucket.com/albums/s...andom_bits.jpg

Oh dear it looks like in your picture above you've got parts for more than one solenoid.

Do the two parts in the middle fit together and then the two outer parts match?

Does the underside part of the body in the middle look like this?

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...-solenoid1.jpg

(Picture from this thread http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/303327-722-118-kickdown-solenoid-condition-advice-reqd-probably-ok-though.html )

The bolt on the far right seemed to make the most sense as far as the threads being on the outside. I'm thinking maybe the solenoid attaches to the metal bracket on one side, but still not really sure. Here is the other side of it:

http://i578.photobucket.com/albums/s...idvalve_01.jpg
http://i578.photobucket.com/albums/s...idvalve_02.jpg

That's an incomplete part - there's a whole part missing in that picture you've just posted. Follow the link I posted in post #7 to see how it should look.

So does this mean I have the wrong kickdown solenoid? My friend has a 1980 or '81 300D with a busted tranny I can pull the part from if needed.

The part number on the casing in the picture you show is the same part number on the picture I've posted. You have got a 722.1 trans haven't you? If so get a complete solenoid with that part number...

No idea...it's an '83 Euro non-turbo model so it could be a different one. I'm sure if I crawled under the car the number would be engraved in the transmission, right? I'd love to look up the VIN and get the full specs but MB Club Russia seems to have taken down their VIN lookup :(

I've found several VIN decoders recently

Here's one

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/2844671-post11.html

But you don't need that.

Look at the transmission just above the oil pan on the right hand side of the vehicle and you'll see a long row of numbers. You want the bit that says 722.XXX <= where the XXX will be numbers

Looks like my transmission is 722.118 so I snagged the one in my friend's '81 with the busted tranny. Was easy enough to remove, should be simple enough to put back in. Do I need to adjust anything?

Well removing it from my friend's car was a piece of cake, but oddly enough I can't seem to find the hole it goes into on my own car. Are the Euro transmissions different?