what do you pay for tranny service?

[jsmith]

my newly acquired '93 300e-2.8 does not kickdown at moderate speeds - something that appears to be somewhat common. it shifts normally otherwise. i have yet to fully explored this quirk. i am inclined to change the tranny fluid right away as the previous owners claimed to have lost most of the records. well, guess what, i found some of them in the car and among other things i discovered that the tranny is only 20k miles old as it was replaced a couple of years ago by MB. i think that was the last service at MB and i saw that new brakes/rotors had been put on too. i'm somewhat relieved to discover that these services were performed. i'm somewhat concerned that they changed the tranny at 33000 miles (symptom was "no forward motion"). plus side is i have a 19k miles young transmission.

now i usually change fluids every 15k, dropping the pan every 3rd change. the fluid is usually very clean when i do this. i asked around and one of the local tranny shops wants to charge $90 to drop the pan, do the gasket / filter. is this ballpark? what do the dealerships charge? it's not due for another 8k miles but i'd like to set a baseline to evaluate the problem if there is one.

[David C Klasse]

I paid $ 125 for transmission fluid and filter change at a Mercedes dealer. This type of service I only have done at a a Mercedes dealer, due to the sensitivity of the transmission.
Also, the trans was obviously replaced under warranty, and obviously defective. But you now seem to have a somewhat new transmission! I'd be happy about that!

As for the kick-down switch, is the switch working properly? Is there a resistance point at the end of the petal? And then does it "click" when pushed further? If not, then your kickdown switch would likely be the culprit, I believe about a $28 part.

Good luck and let us know what's happening!

[jsmith]

thanks David,

yeah, i'm going through a mix of excitement and apprehension. i haven't bought a used car in a long time. the last time was a saab for my wife. that car was just about as old as this one but boy, what a huge difference quality-wise. also, this is going to be my main driver so i want to set it up as best i can. the transmission i actually am glad about. it does appear to have been replaced under warranty - easily a $2k job which was what the work order showed. if that's all MB will charge me then i might as well have them do it. come to think of it, i don't feel a switch, maybe they forgot to put one in :p when they replaced the tranny?

cheers

[David C Klasse]

Ok then.
Open up the door and look behind the petal, do you see this black knob down there? If so, push hard on it and see if it CLICKS back, it should then pop back out. Yours is likely either broken or gone. Buy a new one! You can get it from Phil @ Fastlane, just be sure he looks under Acceleration Control (it's not under transmission in the Mercedes computer, they messed up).

It's the black circular thing below and to the right of the white screw, and it's directly behind the gas petal when floored.



Here is a closer look:



Do you see this on your car??

(BTW, when they put in a new transmission, I wouldn't think they put in a new kickdown switch if it's operating properly...)

[jsmith]

ah yes! it's there alright, i'm not sure if the carpet was in the way because i tried the accelerator and just felt that detente for the first time. i was pretty sure i stepped hard on it last night but i didn't feel the click. darn, i can't drive it yet because i won't have my temp license until tuesday. thanks a heap!

ps. i guess i could put my other plates on it if i can't stand the suspense.

[David C Klasse]

Originally posted by jsmith

ps. i guess i could put my other plates on it if i can't stand the suspense.

You know you can't....

[jsmith]

you're right i couldn't resist. well, i guess i'm not sure what i was expecting. is it supposed to drop all the way into second when i'm trundling along at 30 mph or so and i floor it? the revs go up over 3k quickly in third but it's not furious activity which i think is not the 300e's strong point anyway. in my v6 passat with the audi engine it will drop into second and go all the way past 60 in it. i'm thinking it's the 4 spd characteristic that i'm comparing to a 5 spd? please tell me if that's not how the car should be behaving.

[David C Klasse]

If you are going 30 mph, and you put the petal to the floor, it should kick into third gear, but if you put it to the floor and then into KICKDOWN, it should shift into second gear and stay there until about 60 mph.

A better way of doing it might be to drive at 50 mph, and then mash the petal all the way down (past kick-down), then it should rev into 2nd gear, and you should really take off.

[jsmith]

well, it's not kicking into second when i go into kickdown, and this time i do feel it click. maybe the switch is dead, is there an easy way to check it?

actually upon further inspection, it seems that the contact is not as positive as i would like, as if the switch is sunk maybe 1/4" too low. there is a very distinct and firm click when i depress it manually while if i use the accel pedal, it is not as distinct so i think it is not being actuated at all. i'll see if i can shim it up or something. what do you think?

[CJ]

Wow, you learn something new everyday. How do you remove this switch, is it basically electrical or is there some sort of linkage along with it?

[David C Klasse]

Here, try this thread:

Kick-Down BROKEN! AGH!!

[jsmith]

David,
I updated my previous reply. Does your switch click the same way with the pedal as when you manually actuate it? Read that thread too. Ought to be a snap to replace but it might not be broken. It's actually hard to get the pedal all the way to actuate the switch and i am not sure where the problem is. the pedal arm is plastic and there is a ridge that catches the guides in the switch when it makes contact but it just doesnt seem to get all the way there. Just now I jammed a shim between the pedal arm and the switch - now I feel positive engagement! Is the switch height adjustable?

[jsmith]

CJ,
It's electrical - I see the leads going into the assembly, probably a simple, momentary contact sort of switch.

[David C Klasse]

I do not think that it's adjustable. I would make sure that the petal goes perfectly into the slot @ the kickdown switch. Maybe the switch just needs to be pulled up or something?!
Before my kickdown switch permanently stopped working, it was not doing a prominent click as it should. So your switch still MAY be the culprit. I'd first see if you can align them to make sure they are lining up properly.

Also, maybe your throttle linkage needs to be lubed?

GOod luck...

[jsmith]

at first i thought the pedal arm was missing the switch completely then i checked its back and there's sort of a ridge that gets captured by those guide tabs on the switch. the pedal action is ok, it just doesn't reach the switch sufficiently somehow. i'll inspect both the pedal and the switch for any adjustability. wish i had that cdrom manual now.

ps. it just occurred to me that the throttle linkage could be holding back the accelerator pedal. is there an adjustment that would give the accel pedal more play?