Slow may be very early shifting up. If you have a tach and it works mention what it is shifting up at.

The points on the tach when the shifting is happening is 13-14 on the first shift into 3rd, and 17-18 when shifting into 4th gear. And disconnecting the adla did not make any difference or change in the shifting process.

Ron

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Shift points have no meaning without pedal position. Though they do seem a little on the low side, even for <1/4 throttle. Test at 1/4, 1/2 and WOT and post results.

MBZ123

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1987 300SDL "Rhona" 218k
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1984 300TD "Petra" 212k - Parts yard pirate, arrrrgh
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"What a heavy load Einstein must've had...F&@%!NG morons everywhere!" - David Lynch

I tried it with the pedal at the different points mentioned, and the results are the same. Lets me know what else I can provide or try.

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Did you snap any other pictures of the linkage? Check the stuff right behind the oil filter canister.

Have someone depress the accelerator pedal fully and watch under hood to see if the fuel rack fully opens.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Checked the movement of the accelerator vs. Throttle linkage and it moves as expected. The engine revs high as expected. It seems that the problem is in the response during movement.

The pics are the best I can get around the oil filter housing. There is some play in the cable that connects to the linkage with the black krinkle cover.

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Your lack of performance is because the system that regulates shifts is not working. As you apply more throttle the shift points get later.

This enables the engine to get into it's power band. The archives will have many articles. This is regulated usually by vacuum or mechanical linkage. Some method of telling the transmission what the engine wants.

Personally I would forget the engine currently until you have your shift issue solved. If the engine cannot get into it's power band during acceleration it will be slow.

Here is the angle I am asking you to show me:

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Thanks so much for helping me see what you had been referring to. I think the turbo isn't kicking in.

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My SDL runs great, I have full opening of the fuel rack with my linkage.

Please have someone sit in the driver's seat and depress the throttle fully (keep it down, vehicle off)... while you are under hood, manually operate the linkage to verify you are having the fuel rack open fully. Your linkage is different than mine from the photographs. The turbocharger is going to have a hard time lighting off the EGTs are not high enough due to lack of fuel. Been there, done that.

My SDL could not get out of its own way when I bought it. I had the linkage issue, a bad overboost solenoid, and a plugged cat. Once the linkage was fixed, it moved decently despite lack of fuel enrichment from the ALDA due to the overboost solenoid. Once I fixed that, I was surprised how well the car ran.

The shift timing will be off if the linkage is not pulling that bowden cable properly to make the shifts at a 'normal' time. That is why I keep going back to the throttle linkage to suspect first.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

I could not remember if the SDL had a Bowden cable or if only the SD had it.
When I bought the SDL, it had zero power too. In fact that was why it was for sale. I took the ALDA off, changed the fuel filters and fixed the linkages and it got a lot better. Once I got a boost control for the turbo and took the boost from 7psi to 13psi.

My suggestion is to look at the bowden cable, start turning it counter-clockwise ( if iI remember correctly) about 1/2 turn then drive the car. the shift points should start at higher RPMs. Keep doing that until you are seeing faster performance. Once you have the transmission shifting at the right RPM, remove the ALDA, don't just unplug it, take it out.

There are lots of posts on adjusting the Bowden cable, so do a search for that term. Do a search on removing the ALDA from the OM 603 in the SDL, the clearances are pretty tight but you can do it.

Good Luck!!

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"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

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The turbo runs off the engine exhaust. Assuming it is turning only the waste gate being stuck open will result in no pressure. The waste gate is spring loaded and as the pressure increases on compressor side of the turbo it opens the gate to keep the boost pressure from getting to high. I adjusted my 90 350 SDL up to 15 psi to get more power. Yours is probably set to 8-10 psi. Get a boost gauge and connect it in the pressure line to see if your turbo is working and at what pressure the gate opens. The ADLA is a device that corrects for Atmospheric pressure changes and can be adjusted to push the fuel rail in further to effectively increase the mixture. There is an overpressure protection device which will back the rail off if the turbo overpressures but other than that the turbo and injection unit operate separately.

I took the car out and made several adjustments to the bowden cable and it made no difference in the car's performance. I will continue to try the other options mentioned.

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If nothing is changing with the shift points after adjusting it. Providing your bowden cable is in the range of changing the shift points. You may have an internal transmission problem.

You have had a look to verify it is hooked up on the transmission? Another possibility is you changed transmission types and the length of you current cable may be wrong. It may take two people to have a look.

One watching the transmission end of the cable and the other manipulating the linkage up on the engine. Under fairly hard acceleration it probably should not shift up till around thirty miles per hour as a guess. Certainly not at 14 mph as under very light acceleration conditions.

Of course you are tending to fixate on the turbo etc. With an early shifting transmission the engine does not get up into the revs where the turbo boost comes on line so it is normal to have no apparent turbo involvement. Go with the obvious issue first . If others are there later fine but you cannot ignore the shift points remaining the same at various power demand levels.

Do not complicate this more than required.

Okay Barry I hear you. I am focusing on the turbo and I appreciate you candor. I will test the cable as you mentioned. I will update all once that step is complete. When I mentioned the the shift points were as stated, the numbers represent 1400 rpms and etc on the tachometer. When I check the movement of the bowden cable, do I need to have the rear wheels off of the ground?

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