Thanks for the reply. I'm in Fl. and was told my 300SL is kinda rare. It's a euro car with the narrow trim. Anyway it used to have the euro headlights before I got it that were vacuum assisted and I noticed an unconnected vacuum hose going to where I think it was. I blocked it off and it started up and ran I thought that was the problem but then I tried with the hose not blocked but it still ran. I did push down on the plenum diaphram before I messed with the vacuum line so maybe it was slightly stuck. I also noticed that the transmission is hard hitting when changing gears. The line coming from the trans.modulator goes to a valve or relay of some type on the driver's side fender. I pulled the hose off of it while the car was running but it didn't seem to have vacuum. It has a switch by the shifter for economy or standard shifting, maybe that's what that's for. I'll connect the tranny hose to a different location and see if it shifts easier. Thanks again.Greg.