So my 84 300sd runs great and shifts fine but it only shifts twice. I know this car has a 4 speed automatic but seems like it doesn't go into 4th or starts in second. I have no idea. Any thoughts? At 60mph the rpms are roughly 2600-2700.

If you use the shifter, what happens? Can you shift it through the gears? How long has it been doing this?

And there it is.

If I use the shifter it does the same thing. I don't have low our 1st as a shift selection on the shifter. It's been this way as long as I've owned the car. Going on 8 months now.

Perhaps you could rephrase that into something meaningful.

Exactly what happens when you move the shift selector as close as possible to the spare tire?

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If the car is fully stopped I place the gear shifter all the way down to the bottom selection which in my car is second gear. I then move the car and shift it from 2nd to 3rd from 3rd to drive it's still only shifts twice. If the car is moving and I downshift all the way to the lowest gear selection the car downshifts twice.

What is everybody else's 300sd RPMs running at highway speeds say between 55 and 65 miles per hour?

To confirm, get to freeway speed in D then put the shifter in 3. If it downshifts, you have 2-3-4. If it doesn’t downshift, you have 1-2-3. Have you checked the control pressure (Bowden) cable? Do you have documented or verified history of the car? Is it possible it has a gasser transmission or valve body?

IIRC my ‘83 SD did 70mph at 3000rpm.

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon

Yes I have done that. At highway speeds I downshift to 3rd and the car downshift. So I guess I'm missing 1st gear? I have no history on the car. I bought it 8 months ago from a friend that found it in a barn. I haven't checked the Bowden cable. What do I look for?

With a 205/70-14 tire, and a 3.07 gear, no-slip RPM @60 MPH = 2447.
Given that this is government work, 26-2700 is close enough. The trans is going into 4th.

The Bowden cable being the problem is a stab in the dark. Find the cable from the passenger side of the transmission that comes up to the valve cover linkage. Pop the socket off the ball. The cable should have an amount of slack and an amount of tension as you pull the socket. The cable should be adjusted such that the socket meets the linkage ball just at the end of the slack. From this neutral point, more tension is later upshifts and earlier downshifts, more slack is earlier upshifts and later downshifts. This assumes the rest of the linkage is properly set.

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon