S.O.S.-At the mercy of my trans. Begging for help. W124, 1986, 300E

[appatula]

Hello all I'm going to break this down for you to make things a tad bit easier.

Situation: I am 17 and heading off to Penn State U. come august. I bought a 1986 300E and started to recondition it to serve as my transportation in Pennsylvania.


What I did:I started off by replacing the front lower control arm bushings, tie rods, strut mounts, ball joints, rear differential mounts, fluid changes ect. However when this was done I was still finishing my senior year in high school. The car sat in the garage dismantled for quite some time before I was able to complete the project.

The Problem:
Upon starting the car up for the first time I was in my glory, proud of my hard work. She backed out just fine, shifted into first and sped off. I slowly accelerated away from the front of my residence. Then my heart slowed, I noticed that the RPM's where above 3k, this then turned into 4K and at 4.3K I let off the gas and BOOM second gear slammed in. This happened through 3rd gear and at times the car would not shift into 4th. At times when the car will not shift I have found that manually shifting the gear selector to "N" then "D" sometimes will create an up shift.

Attempted Remedies:
1] I have inspected all sensor connectors and wires underneath the transmission.
2] Replaced the vacuum line from the intake manifold to the trans.
3] Performed a complete fluid change with Valvoline Dextron III & Filter

Cries for Sympathy:
At this point I do not have much cash left, I am leaving soon, and if this car stays where it is the result will simply be the junkyard. However this damn car has caused me such grief and madness, I really do not wish to give up, I have spent too much money and time. Basically I need help, suggestions, and to be pointed in the right direction as my morale is running wickedly low.

Thank youMB enthusiasts.