Recurring Transmission Problem
 

My '87 300E seems to have a recurring problem with the vacuum line from the transmission to the manifold getting clogged. This problem is then follwed by the inability to shift from lower gears to higher gears.

My question is is what is causing the line to get clogged and how to prevent this, or at least minimize this in the future. I recently cleaned the line out approx 3 months ago and now I have to do it again.

Any ideas ?

if you are going to keep the car, go to the dealer.


why take a chance on a much larger repair bill?

peter

Wow, what a "cheezy" response ebenz... If I were to go to a dealer everytime a problem happens, the bill would be enormous, thus the "hopefull" help from this forum...

pardon me for responding, newbee


who said go to the dealer EVERY time??

a transmission is something most mercedes owners don't gamble on, however it is your car

Never seen one of those lines plug. What is it plugged with? Is it pulling something from the trans?

I have also not seen lack of vacuum change shift positions on that trans. Lack of vacuum to the modulator just produces harder shifts on 722.3 trannies. Shift timing is dealt with through the control pressure cable; which is known to stick both in the housing and in the valve body.

The most common intermittant is a bad kickdown switch under the gas pedal.

Thanks Steve, I adjusted my Vacuum and also played around with the control cable and SHAZZAM, I now have a smooth shifting vehicle that allows the car to shift into the upper gears.

The problem I hade previously was the vacuum line from the manifold was all "gunked up" with a substance that looked like tar. Don't know what it was comprised of, but it clogged up my line and made shifting into the upper gears (3'rd to 4'th) almost impossible.