I just bought my first Benz last week (many have said "are you nuts"). My '91 300SE also has this odd shift delay but it is a solid shift and other than that I have no complaints. I do have a question however, this 4 speed automatic seems to only have 3 gears. Is there a super low gear that it is not using? Fuel economy is fantastic so I don't think it's not going into 4th. Any ideas? BTW it has 182,000 miles and was serviced regularly by the previous owner, bought from a good friend of mine who has an E320. Thanks

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1991 300SE (my ride, 279,000 miles, looks almost new
1954 Cadillac (21 yo son's car, he bought when age 15)
1972 SeaBird 19 ft runabout (old but solid, slant six, Volvo sterndrive perfect condition, undergoing complete overhaul and refit)
1998 Toyota Rav4 (my sons daily driver when he is in the Continental US, PROUDLY serving in US Navy)

Bruce,

Congrats on becoming a MBZ owner!

From my experience, I have found that the 4 speed normally starts in 2nd, so the next shift is to 3rd and the "second" shift is actually to 4th.

When you say that you are getting great fuel economy, let us know what you are getting.

Again, I have found that I am getting anywhere from 19mpg in town to as high as about 25mpg on the road. This goes for my 190E, 300TE and 300SL with slight variances for summer vs. winter.

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Don

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'90 300SL
'90 190E 2.6
'87 300TE (gone to car heaven)
'84 190D (passed along...still in the family and used on a daily basis)

Arthur,

Thanks for the explicit notes.

I have disconnected the little black wire that comes up from the Delay Shift solenoid and driven it around for a few days.

So far, I have noticed no perceivable difference how soon this delayed shift takes place, warm or cold engine temp.

Reconnected and run a while (100 miles plus) and then disconnected it again, and still it persists.

I will try the vac testing in the next few days and report back...

Thanks again.

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Don

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'90 300SL
'90 190E 2.6
'87 300TE (gone to car heaven)
'84 190D (passed along...still in the family and used on a daily basis)

I often wonder if there is another way of getting rid of the rude jerk which comes every morning on the way to work. Could it be possible to just rev up the engine to over 3100rpm before leaving home this done in the yard or garage without waking up the kids and neighbours.??? Or am I barking up the wrong tree??? Its the auto gearbox which has to do some really hard work to get rid of this bugger??? Can some bright person in the designing room at the Benz maker's hq please scratch his head and solve this problem for us with a simple adjustment of anything??? I am sick and tired of this turture!!!


I can only thank the Benz designers for inventing this ingenious" wake up call" every morning, otherwise, there is a danger that I might fall asleep driving. They must have copyrights for this world renowned and unalterable system, thats why nobody else has copied it!!!

Hocky - I feel your pain. I know I was one of those who contributed to this thread going so far off course!

I'm going to see if my MBZ mechanic has any suggestions. He is reputed to be really good but I know he's also "very factory/keep it stock" in how he approaches things. If he is unwilling to do anything different I'll try a full transmission flush (complete fluid replacement, not just drop pan) and refill with Mobil 1. It will probably be a while from now but I'll post my results.

Haven't entirely kept up with this thread, but have you serviced your transmission lately? Tried other ATF? Have the proper filter? Someone told me that shifting could also be affected by the filter and that you should have a "slider" type filter. Don't know if it affects cold shifting. From how this thread has gone it sounds like something we just have to live with

Maybe we could all start off at position 2 and not D when cold, maybe this rude jerk will be bypassed, has anyone tried this or anything else? If there is a mechanical or electronic control for this "necessary jerk" feature, can we bypass it by removing the mechanism or cutting off power to the circuit board??? Fortunately my Benz is at the techs fixing something or other and won't be back till next Saturday, so I can enjoy the peace and quiet for another 5 days then be prepared for some more headaches with the tranny torture, LOL.....

This is my wife's SINGLE biggest complaint about our 300E. She takes a spare shirt in the car - she's spilled her drink on herself SO MANY TIMES. Interestingly, our '94 C280 we just got - M104 engine - has a pump that takes over whatever-the-hell the reason for the jerk does. You have a whine in the morning instead! But MUCH better than that first jerk!

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Bill Streep
San Antonio
'57 190SL (toy)
'08 S5500 (mine)
'09 CLK550 (wife's)
'06 SLK350 (daughter's)
'11 GLK350 (daughter's)
'03 CLK310 (spare)

Bstreep .... Good news, can you tell us more about this "pump" thats in your C280 and maybe whether it is possible to have it fitted to other models like my 1994 C180 which basically has a 4 pot engine and maybe the same tranny, but with 4 speeds only. Thanks.

maybe one of the techs here could tell you... It IS a different transmission than on the others... I'm told the reason for the "jerk" is to warm up the cat - and the pump now does that.

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Bill Streep
San Antonio
'57 190SL (toy)
'08 S5500 (mine)
'09 CLK550 (wife's)
'06 SLK350 (daughter's)
'11 GLK350 (daughter's)
'03 CLK310 (spare)