How long in warm up gear when cold?

[Benz Mondi]

I've noticed that when I hop into my 92 300E first thing in the morning, after about 2 mins, I can go down the street and it will shift properly instead of being in the warm up gear (don't know if that's supposed to be 1st or 2nd until it gets to the right temp for the catalytic). In my 93 300SL, it will only shift normally into a higher grear if I've warmed up the car for about 10 mins.

Is this supposed to be the case with the SL's?

Thanx,

Al

[tecqboy]

My 91 300sl auto gets out of that cold start "mode" after about 1 minute or 1/4 mile, which ever comes first.

[lowesguy]

1990 300se same thing have to warm it up or its stuck in low gear
my trans was changed 15k ago

[JimFreeh]

When cold, shifting out of second gear is delayed until temp warms up (either engine coolant or cat), OR until you hit 3K rpm.

Last time I looked at the trans info, there appears to be the ability to defeat this quirk. The control was on the left front IIRC, and could be defeated by modifying external wiring.

Jim

[compu_85]

Those early 5 speed autos had a temperature controlled element which would change shifting based on coolant temp.

-J

[Benz Mondi]

It actually takes just 5 mins. Otherwise, whatever gear I pull away in (2nd I think) shifts once, then stays in that gear until 3000 Rpms or about a level 100 yards. Only happens the first start of the day.

[JohnM.]

If you are light on the throttle and know the point where it shifts (usually 3K) you can prevent the first couple of cold shifts from being painful (CLUNK, OW!). But otherwise this feature is normal.