Good Morning,

I just go into my 82' 300D (301k miles), and it won't change gear position at all. I have tried every gear position, but it stays in park or neutral. No sign of life at all, no clunking or moving.

I did the fluid and filter about 14k miles ago, and it's always shifted ok. A tiny bit jerky when cold, but perfect after a few minutes. Very occassionally, it would take a few seconds to shift from P to D when cold.

It's my daily driver, and there have been no signs of impending failure. I always thought the transmission pump was a little bit noisy in this car, but a mechanic friend of mine heard it last year and wasn't concered.

Where do I start? Fluid looks ok. I'm hoping it's a linkage issue?

Thank you.

If you suddenly have no gears at all, and the shifter linkage has not come loose, about the only thing that could mean is your front pump is bad. I have also seen the ears shear off them when the transmission is reinstalled incorrectly. It might work for a while but eventually shears off.

Although you'd probably feel something, it could be that the output flange came loose on the end of the transmission.

Good luck!!!

__________________
"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Just checked, linkages look good. I also cracked the trans cooler line while running, and the fluid came out at a pretty good pace. I assume that means pump is working also?
If not, do you know of any good tests for the pump?

Just checked, and driveline looks good.

Have the trans valve body cleaned and replace fluid and filter.

Worst case scenario is that your clutches are bad,but sudden onset may just be debri blocking the valve...

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1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

Have heard of TransX being good for cleaning valve body components. Probably cannot hurt because if it doesn't work it has to come apart anyway or be replaced.

Good luck!!!

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Now there's a thought. That actually makes a lot of sense. I was stumped as to why the car would suddenly go from shifting nicely to not shifting at all. I will investigate, thank you.

Good idea.. do you think it will do a decent job cleaning if it's not going into gear?

We have the same concern about its effectiveness in this situation but id still try and maybe give it a little extra time.

Good luck!!!

__________________
"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

BG makes Trans Clean. Ive never used it but anything I have used from BG has been excellent. It can be ordered online.

__________________
"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Drain it and see what comes out and drop the pan and see what is in the bottom.

When I had shift issues changing the filter and fluid helped for a while.

Part of the issue sounds like a classic in B2 piston or band failure but normally when that happens you are supposed to have reverse.
I don't know if the B2 band breaks if you can still get reverse.

Way in the past people have had springs break inside of the valve body.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Update on this: finally found the time to check pressures and found the issue: main/working pressure is supposed to be 212 - 239 PSI. Mine is at 62psi at idle, when I add throttle (any amount) it only bumps up to 67psi.
So, I assume the pump has failed. At this point, I'll most likely just go with a rebuilt unit from Sun Valley.

Just need to decide if I want to attempt the R&R myself or not..

does the pressure also depend on vacuum?? if so check your vac lines first!!

__________________
1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

The manual I found says to unhook the vacuum line when running the test. So, I suppose it would affect it, but I eliminated that possibility.

I did discover a new idea, however: I may need to look at my "working pressure control valve" in the valve body.
Does anyone know, if an issue with that valve would cause my symptoms?