190E Won't Shift

1990 190E 2.6 w/ 166K. Had the tranny serviced 6 months ago and there's plenty of fluid. This morning it would shift up -- seems to be stuck in 2nd gear. Limping back home there were moments when the engine would revv up and seemed that it wasn't egaging the tranny at all.

Do I have a major ($$$) problem? I'm not sure if the fluid in the converter was also replaced. Thanks for the help.

[stevebfl]

Unfortunately its not very simple from here. I would test governor pressure and working pressure.

A governor problem can be fixed without removing the tranny.

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Steve Brotherton
Owner 24 bay BSC
Bosch Master, ASE master L1
26 years MB technician

[mbdoc]

As Steve said the governor uses 2 plastic gears, & without the governor working you only have 1 forward & reverse. Many shops might try to sell rebuilt trans so ask to have these gears checked. About 3-4 hrs & $50-75 in parts.

Dear Steve & MB Doc,

Called up a local dealer and told them about your suggestions. He agreed that it might be the governor and figures, without actually seeing the car, that it might cost about $500. Of course, just as you said, he said that the best thing for this is to have a rebuilt unit installed for $1800.

I don't want to spend $500 for something that will eventually take me down the same road. There are other places in L.A. where I can get a rebuilt tranny for less. With 166K miles on the tranny, do these things normally last longer?

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