amazingly, thanks to Brian Carlton pm'ing me the 3-2 valve bypass post link:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showpost.php?p=1375506&postcount=5
it took me 2 minutes to fix my transmission. i'm floored because it literally shifts perfectly now.
the car now drives perfectly. alignment seems good. acceloration is good. she easily buries the needle well past speedometer's max of 85mph.
vstech - "as for the rest of the issues, try fuses, and try resoldering the ccu... good luck!" i replaced almost all the fuses when i drove the car out of the woods. there are a few left that have not been replaced but i think they're OK. is there a 126 fuse map on this site somewhere? i'll search...
regarding resoldering the ccu - i don't know what that is and i've never soldered before (excepts for copper plumbing). what's the ccu and do you have a soldering iron / solder recommendation?
car history: the 300SD failed inspection like 4 years ago due to "a fuel leak" so this nice old woman parked the then 22yr old vehicle in the woods next to her home and her family got her a new MB. i'd seen it sitting there for years and finally just knocked on the door and asked if she might consider selling it. she was just going to sell it for scrap but the wheels all needed to be taken off and she'd never got around to having anyone do that. she sold it to me for $300. it turned out the fuel leak was just the primer pump. i grabbed it with a vice grip, turn it off, spun on a new one and ~$20 and 5min later the fuel leak was fixed.
hangit - "However, depending on what shape your vehicle is in, I'm not sure you will be saving money. My 240D is a money pit at this point. A labor of love, but expensive to maintain even with me doing the labor." this is what i'm worried about too. i actually had a manual 240D before this, and i liked the car, but it was too far gone to be a good restoration candidate for me. sold it to a friend that's not concerned with the rust / appearance - he just drives it and it's working out great as his daily driver. i made a huge mistake with my first diesel purchase - it was a Volvo Turbo Diesel. i bought it for $600, probably put $2000 into it and sold it for $600. i will say that my VW TDI is flawless. 4 years, zero repairs, only routine maintenance + great fuel economy. it's going to be hard to let the VW go but i'm going to be saving $430+ a month ($330 car payment + $100 insurance).
toomany MBZ - thanks for the tips / starting points. the night i drove the car home the pump in the trunk didn't stop running for hours and hours (it may have even ran all night). i think started pulling fuses until it stopped but i'm not sure which one caused it to stop working and i'm not sure why it hasn't started working again - as i replaced all the fuses (i think). that's why i'd like a good fuse map w all the correct amp values so i can check to be certain i've got the right fuses in all locations and understand what the fuses all do. i think the fuse card is missing from my 300SD.
are the dash lights and the 12v outlets on a related fuse? the car has three 12v outlets (1 up front and 1 in each rear door) and none are working.
i'm going to keep doing my best to chip away at the issues and i really appreciate the help and feedback. maybe at a future GTG someone can share with me their insights on the issues i'm unable to tackle
thanks everyone!