Bowden Cable Adjustment for M104 engine
 

SteveBfl told me a few months back that I should adjust my bowden cable to optimize my shifting (already did modulator adjustment). He suggested that I 'hasten the control pressure shift point' which I believe to be the bowden cable. I would adjust it so that the car would shift earlier. This would also allow the transmission to DOWN-shift at higher speeds also.
If I floor it (kickdown) at 18 mph, it will not shift into 1st gear.

Anyway, how do I adjust the bowden cable for my 95 C280? I think I'll be making it a little tighter (shorter) and go from there.

I have no more camera, so I'll have to use some old pictures.

This is a pic of my engine....
http://www.a-p-group.com/cklasse/Engine2.JPG


And here is a closer look at the area of adjustment:
http://www.a-p-group.com/cklasse/ThrottleLinkage.JPG


Now can anyone give me specific instructions on the location?
Thanks a bunch, I appreciate it. :o :)

I asked my tech where it was when he lubed the throttle cable and he pointed to a similar looking assembly underneath the throttle linkage. It had an orange bellows type covering over the cable portion. Not sure where it would be on your car though...

Just tried to check it out.. but I can BARELY even see down in that crevice. I am thinking I must remove the Windshield washer reservoir to actually get my hands (or sight) down in there.


??? :confused: ???

Thanks JSmith!
(BTW, do you have the Mercedes-Benz repair CD for your car? I might be able to use some info you provide me ;) because we both have the M104 engine. THX)

yeah i have the cd but it's not very user friendly. it has pictures of the pages from the manual in pdf format :confused: . you can't even do a wild card search on the CD. i wish they had just made the whole thing a PDF with text so that you can at least do a decent search. instead they did this quasi-multimedia hodgepodge collection of PDF's!

BTW, i saw an old thread where Steve described it as having the "accordion" tubing over the cable, so i guess i was looking at the right thing. i'll see if i can get a shot of the thing...

John are there images of the linkage? Of Bowden adjustment? How do u adjust it anyway?! Is it a screw or something?
EIther way, I would also like to know the proper way of throttle linkage on the M104s. THANKS A BUNCH!

yup i think you're gonna have to move that reservoir. i managed to snap a pic and attached it. it will be further back than whats in your original pix if our configurations are at all alike which is probably the case. the CD is useless for stuff like this - i have yet to find any mention of the throttle actuator / bowden cable. re-read that thread where steve had a lot of answers. BTW from re-reading that old thread and another thread i think this is missing part of the answer to my kickdown / shift point puzzle.

can someone verify where the adjustment is made? i thought it was where the cable housing is attached. there is a 13mm nut that you can turn to move the cable housing in or out. i thought that moving it out would shorten the cable and make the shifts later so i gave it a half a turn out. i observed the opposite effect- now the tranny won't downshift at all and shifted 200 rpm earlier:confused:

If one turns the throttle linkage knurled knob (in the relative middle of the pic), would that get rid of slack in the throttle wire linkage?

I've turned mine all the way up and all the way down and didn't observe the slack in the linkage tighten or loosen,...

tks-fad
'94 E320 Coupe

i don't think the throttle knob is to be adjusted. i think i turned the nut the wrong way. i should have turned it in to shorten the cable (only one way to find out).

hey David, did you find it in your car yet?

knurled knob
 

I used the knurled knob to take out some slack in my cable on my M103 engine. I read somewhere that there should be a little slack, but I took most of it out, and was pleased with the results. (earlier downshifts, and quicker throttle response)

Ok,
I have the washer reservoir off and I can see the Bowden cable and now have access to it. But what do I adjust? Is it a screw or something?? I don't understand where/what this "knurled knob" is...
THX!

i think the adjustment for the bowden cable is where it is attached to the linkage as shown in the pic. i am still not sure which direction to turn although loosening it was definitely not the way to go for me as it stopped downshifting altogether and the shift points went lower. i have tightened it 1.5 turn (9 flats) and it is back to where it was before with no real improvement. maybe there was too much slack to start with. i'm giving it another half turn tomorrow morning.

george just said that he adjusted the knurled knob to get rid of the slack in the throttle linkage but i'm pretty sure that wasn't part of what steve said in the original thread.

knurled knob
 

Sorry, I had to run get a pizza.... the knob to which I am referring is approx 1 1/2 inch to the left of the "B" in Bowden in the pictures, and has the cable running through the center of it and it has 6 points/bumps on it. When I turned that knob, it visibly shortened the cable which runs through the center of it, taking up the slack going to the next piece of the linkage. I once read on another site that if you turned the knob too much, that it would start in first, and never shift into high. Don't know if that is true or not. This is all heresay, except that I felt that it helped my situation. Others may know better than I do. Hope that this may help out a little.
George

Sorry about these delays, I keep falling asleep! I'm sick :mad: :(

Ok, well I tried to adjust that black 13mm thing, and with some effort (so little room to move the wrench), I think I turned it about one full turn. Though I went to drive the car and noticed absolutely no difference at all? Should I try turning it some more?
What should I be looking for? Earlier upshifts and later (MPH)downshifts correct?

Adjusted it close to a full turn again. Still nothing?