My SD flared from 3-4. I stiffened it up by adjusting vacuum but that made 1-2 very hard. I lost my B2 and I replaced it. I drove another year and a half and then I moved to a hilly location. I think the hill and maybe some debris left over from the B2 failure killed it.

At the end the car would sometimes just freewheel in hot weather. I mean it would just go into neutral when I was stuck in LA traffic. I knew it was on its way out. It would sometimes run a bit hot as well. I’d turn it off, let it cool on the shoulder, then it would engage and I’d drive off like nothing happened.

I lost a vacuum check valve in the pump. Shifting got hard and noisy. I fixed it a week later but the sounds didn’t go away. It whines and I drove it. Then the speedometer would bounce around while I was stationary...all I could think is ferrous metal was swirling around the magnetic pickup. The car had 200k at this point.

I limped it around a month waiting for Marc at Sun Valley yo build me a trans. When I finally pulled into Sun Valley it was making awful sounds. I was crazy driving it in but it made it. He got it in and oh boy, it transformed the car. Quieter, smoother, more powerful and good shifts in all gears. No banging 1-2 yet a solid 3-4. I love it.

So my original trans died quite young. I got the car with 160k on it for a low price because the PO had it diagnosed with the 3-4 flare indicating that it needed a rebuild. I drove it a good 40k before I actually did that.

Oh and I should add, the year before the PO sold the car he let his college kid drive it. I suspect he beat on it because he demanded his dad sell the 300sd and get him a WRX which I saw parked in the driveway.

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79 300TD “Old Smokey” AKA “The Mistake” (SOLD)
82 240D stick shift 335k miles (SOLD)
82 300SD 300k miles
85 300D Turbodiesel 190k miles
97 C280 150k miles