Slippery When Wet...or Dry

[bohemian]

Howdy Group,
This is my Virgin Voyage into your Inner Circle. However, I have enjoyed reading all of yours for weeks. I write to seeking aid for my baby's benefit. She is a 1971 280 SL with 73k actual miles. She's a Fair Weather Friend who helps us enjoy life between Memorial Day and Halloween, occasionally, even Thanksgiving, depending on Ohio's reaction to Globle Warming. Regretably,
she has developed "a hitch in her get-a-long".
Diagnosis needs Prognosis: In recent years she has undergone an engine rebuild, new exhaust and brake overrhaul. Now enter the stupid 'pilot error' part, when returning from brake shop she was lolligagging and unresponsive. After several miles on the freeway I pulled off and discovered the shop had cranked the hand brake, something I never do as Ohio is flat. I do not know if this is even relevent to the issue but, she has not been the same since. As this was the end of the season I put her away without further investigaing things.
Now my dilema arises. In getting her ready for the body/paint shop memory was refreshed. To steal some old musical lyrics my gal is "slip sliding away". Though, she does O.K. on 90% of the roads` because they are flat I find she does poorly when I punch it or the occassional slope occurs. I hope it is simple but, fear the worst. Any advice?
Query: where do I put my money? Transmission or paint?

SORRY! the giddy-up is the issue, not the whoa!

[230/8]

Although your post is entertaining to read, I do not understand what your concern is...what's the problem, podna? Won't stop?, or won't go? Won't corner?, or...? Give us a non-cryptic clue. Is it the giddyup or the whoa?

230/8

[bohemian]

its giddy-up.

[cbdo]

Not shifting properly? Engine not generating power properly? Transmission appearing not to transmit properly? What's the actual behavior you're seeing?
And, since (I assume) it's a Pagoda, automatic or stick?

Inquiring minds want to know!

[bohemian]

automatic transmission. slippage in general and even when down shifting.
also, i apologize. i evidently deleted the paragraph that contained information regarding these inquiries. ooops! and i thought i was being redundant.

[230/8]

OK, so it seems that your mechanic had, unknown to you, applied the E-brake and you drove it for some time that way (shame on you). Your concern is that after releasing the E-brake there seems to be a lack of performance evidenced by a bit of slipping in the auto-trans. If this is a correct understanding, then:

I recommend first eliminating the obvious by ensuring that the E-brake is actually fully released and not dragging. Jack up the car and check all your brakes and the cables running to the E-brake for any binding, linkages, too.

Next, how exactly have you determined the transmission is slipping? What is your metric? When warmed up, it should shift smartly when you goose it and it should move away from a stop the same way, smartly without the engine racing with no forward movement.

Is the oil burned? Check it with a clean lint-free white cloth. There should be a nice bright red color with no fluid discoloration of any sort, none, no soot, no darkness of any sort in the fluid or from the dipstick as you wipe it across the cloth. If the fluid is not crystal clear and red then change it and the filter and drain the converter, too. Ensure the fluid level after re-fill is spot-on correct and retest the transmission performance. When you change the filter check out the pan, any sludge or sediments? If the transmission is failing it will signal you with a load of crap in the pan which your mechanic will see when he services the unit.

The little gearboxes in older MBs seem to be very tough despite their un-robust appearance. My 230/8 has endured well for 36 years and shows no sign of giving up despite my occasional abuse. The only repair I've made was to replace the torque converter. Some were poorly assembled and the sealing ring would leak. Later units were welded, so I'm told, to eliminate this problem.

If your mechanic failed you on the brakes then I would first suspect and eliminate all brake-related issues. The gearbox could overheat from the added load of dragging brakes, but you should also have noted the engine overheating as well. If the fluid checks reasonably OK then I would look elsewhere. FYI, the fluid would need to be pretty bad before I would assume the worst and sign off on a rebuild. If it is just older fluid and not real dark smelly-burned, and you did not run it for weeks in that condition then changing it can do wonders to return the performance. Do the change-out routine first and give the old girl a chance to prove she is still up to it, they are only original once. (Think virgins...)

GOod luck,

230/8

[bohemian]

thank-you. that was the advice i was after. i appreciate it and will proceed as suggested. bohemian