My transmission seems to be stuck in the lower gear. If I let the car get up to speed in neutral and put in drive then the upper gears seem to work. This is probably not a good idea but I did a lot of test driving and playing. I first noticed a problem the day before when I had to maintain a high RPM to go 50. I assume I was in 2 or 3rd gear. I was able to stop and play around with the transmission and was able to get it shifting again to get home at a reasonable speed and RPM. Now I cannot get it out of low gear without by passing the gears. I checked the fluid and it was low but I filled it and it still did not shift. I'm hoping it is the bowden cable or the vacuum supply or modulator. Any ideas where I should look.

Thanks

Do a search for ' trans-x' for a possible fast cheap fix....

The bowden cable should have just a tiny bit of play, so not under tension and not much play either. Certainly check for vacuum leaks with a good gauge, if you don't have one, get a miti-vac, so you have the hand pump on the same tool. Trans fluid must be checked while warm, idling and level. It's not very forgiving, so adjust in small increments.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

I have the miti vac. I can do the tests. I changed the trans fluid about 3K miles ago. Filling the transmission is definitely a challenge. The fluid looks good so I don't think anything fried. My only concern was maybe I had overfilled. I was pretty shocked when I looked and it was low. I'm going to try to eliminate the vacuum and the bowden cable then I can try the trans-x. Any additional suggestions?

Is your car a CA version? It could then be an electrical issue.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

Not a CA car that I know of. I believe this car has always been a georgia/alabama car. I know it is not the orginal motor and it may not be the original tranny.

another member just had this problem .. turned out to be the kickdown switch was stuck on.

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

Kick down switch? Is it electrical? I may have the same problem but it's intermittent.

The reason I asked if its a CA car is the model. The CA models have a bunch of crappy electrical smog controls that do strange things when they malfunction. The easiest way to tell if the car is a CA model is they have a large air filter canister located behind the headlamp on the passenger side.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

yeah remember the guy couple of weeks back that was going to sell his car cause it wouldn't shift out of low. then it was tracked to the kick down switch and all was fine. car not for sale anymore...
do a search on kickdown switch it's right there..

maybe the carpet is keeping it stuck 'on' or something..
actually mine has the rubber covering almost shot so am sure that water from all this freaking snow we have is getting into the switch..

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

Update. I test drove the car again. It will shift when it gets to somewhere between 4000 and 4500 RPM. This sounds like the kick down issue. When I get a chance to put the car up on blocks I will let you know

Pulled floor mat and unpluged the kickdown switch and it shifted. This makes sense since the problem started to manifest itself after putting the pedal to the floor. I have some moisture in the floorboard and no doubt between that and age caused it to stick. Thanks

glad you got it sorted out..
seems those switches are also pretty cheap if it needs replacing...

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

I think your the 4th member to fix a transmission problem by disconnecting their kickdown switch in the past 3 weeks. Me included.

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Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

When the person selling the cars says "oh and the trannies blown and stuck in first", you can get a pretty sweet deal...

Is that not nice?

Sorry but I like 'em cheap and repairable.

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'99 S420 - Mommies
'72 280SE 4.5 - looking to breathe life into it
'84 300SD Grey - Sold
'85 300SD Silver - Sold
'78 Ski Nautique

That is the great thing about these cars. Now if I can only get the fuel system free of leaks and the A.C. blower working again it will be a great car.