All -

I am continuing my efforts to keep the Wayward Woman, my rescued 380SL on the road. My current problem as described in an earlier post is that the transmission behaves very badly from a stop after warming up. See the following for details:

722.3 Transmission Troubles

I have bought the book published by ATSG, which is helpful, and I found an even better reference in a PDF on the web:

http://w126.pp.ru/akp722.pdf

Anyway, I believe (always the optimist) is that the problem is caused by the transmission not shifting correctly into first gear when coming to a stop. If I shift to Neutral, even for a second, then first gear is correctly engaged and everything is fine. And, again the optimist, I am hoping that this is a correctible problem not needing a rebuild.

According to the Mitchell Guide:

"In 1st gear, brake band B-2 is applied, and one-way clutch is locked. Both planetary gear sets are involved in gear reduction."

and -

"When the selector is moved from the "N" position to "D" position, brake bands B-1 and B-2 are controlled."

That's about all the information that seems to exist in the Washington DC area. The general response is "hmm, better get a factory rebuild." Maybe that's what I need, but I would at least like to satisfy myself that there is not a simpler solution.

Does anyone have an idea why the transmission would shift well after a quick pop to Neutral, but go completely to crap when left in Drive or shifted manually into low?

Dirt in the governor and a broken pressure relief valve have been suggested. The governor sort of makes sense because it runs off the tailshaft and could prevent a downshift to Low if it "thought" the car was moving too fast?

As always, any suggestions are appreciated.

__________________
Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe