What's the likelihood the valet ruined my transmission?
 

Car is the meticulously cared for 91 300D. 118k miles, transmission fluid and filter religiously changed.

Interestingly, I NEVER use valet parking...just have never like the idea of it. Call me weird.

Kids and spouses in town...wife and I decide to watch the grandkids and send them to our favorite restaurant. Van and daughter's Prius loaded with car seats....so they take the 91. And they took advantage of the free valet parking....sounds ominous.

Son-in-law drove it there...performed flawlessly, as always. But when he got it back from valet, it would not shift out of the first forward gear (which, if I remember correctly, is second on the 722.4). Reverse works fine.

Yes, I know on a 25 year old car things can happen at very random times. Thus far, I have no proof that the valet did anything. But, what are some possibilities as to what might have happened? What sort of ill treatment, if any, would account for the new symptoms? Or what sort of random failure. It literally went from a perfectly performing 722.4 to horrible in an instant.

I checked the fluid, and it actually seems high. And I'm usually pretty careful about fluid level. Coolant level seems normal.

Restaurant owner is being very responsive....seems eager for their insurance to resolve the matter to my satisfaction.

Very close to zero...

...that is unless someone decided to take it out for a joy ride and spent 20 minutes turning donuts or other abusive actions

I know a stuck kickdown switch can cause this symptom...but mine is fine.

I would bet that the 25 years old car has more to do with the problem than the 25 year old valet.

Fair enough. So what are the potential causes of a 722.4 refusing to upshift?

shertex:

Can you select 1st gear with the shift lever? If so, is there an upshift to 2nd when the lever is moved to D? If two yeses, consider a failure of the governor, or a stuck governor pressure valve.

No, I cannot select first gear.

Bowden cable pulled all the way up and stuck/kinked in the full throttle position?

When you say you can't select first gear...does it not drop into gear, or is the lever not positioning? It could be shifter bushings.

Ya, I can't think of something an operator could do to prevent the shift lever from physically moving.

There is a device in the transmission that keeps you from shifting past N when the car is moving forward (so you can't go into R or P).

-J

There is no "1" on the selector...it begins with "2."

The shift lever moves fine...the problem is that the transmission stays stuck in first gear.

Sounds like B2

It could be as simple as a vacuum problem. If I remember correctly there are transducers that control vacuum to the transmission. Take a look under the hood and see if any lines are disconnected/cracked/etc..........

If I am reading shertex's post correctly, he said it is not shifting out of 1st up to the next gear. If he can't get into 1st than it would be a classic B2 symptom.


I would agree with the earlier post and check the vacuum related stuff first.


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