I recently aquired an 85 190D with 212k miles from my brother for pretty cheap. Gem of a car for being 22 years old with the exception of a transmission issue.

It appears to be missing 2nd gear...

When accelerating from a stop (with the shift lever in D) it will shift from 1st directly to 4th. It is hard to tell if it hits 3rd on the way to 4th. If the shifter is in 3 it will shift to 3rd. The shift occurs between 3500 and 4500 rpm, depending on the throttle position.

If I'm idling along slowly in 1st gear (with lever in 3) sometimes it will act as if it's in neutral (I'm assuming it is in 2nd) until the engine rpm gets to around 3000-3500 rpm.

If I drop the shifter into 2 when decelerating slowly the car will act as if it's in neutral as I can freely rev the engine without any change in speed.

Any ideas of a 'cheap' or easy fix for this? I would really like to not drop $1700-2300 (guestimate from the local MB dealer for a tranny rebuild) into this car if I can at all help it.

Thanks!

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85 190D w/Auto and 212k miles