NEW! 83 300D Tubo - Slipping/Flaring Tranny???

[legasea]

Hello, man this forum is full of awesome info. I have been on it for weeks prior to purchasing my brand new! 83 300d Turbo!!! My new ride has 275,000 miles and counting. This is my first benz so I thought the issue I am about to describe was attributed to it being 25 yrs old.
The issue I am trying to resolve is the hard/flaring shifting. IF I am light on the pedal, the car accelerates slowly and it shifts fine in all gears. When I need some pickup and am heavier on the pedal, I get great acceleration but it seems the car is hanging onto 1st gear too long, rpms race and it kind of slowly slides into 2nd. Same experience from 2nd to 3rd but not as dramatic. From 3rd to 4th seems fine but I think I get a quick double shift sometimes. Hard to tell. Once in 4th, I get great acceleration and it purrs. I thought I had to live with this and began taking my foot off the pedal which makes it shift sooner, but then when it changes gears, the rpms drop so low I am forced to put the pedal all the way down. So I was trying to find a happy medium in shifting and began reading these posts of flaring which I have read normally occurs between 2nd and 3rd. So, I'd love to tune the tranny and dont know where to begin. I feel in its current condition, I am beating on the trans when I need power and I don't want to continue to punish the trans any more than I have to. So next steps.....I suppose I will start with the tranny oil and take a look at those white flippers to see if they are worn. Then I will buy a mightymac and start on the vacuum system. My first question...... is what I am describing flarring? Even in 1st to 2nd gear? Can someone confirm? Or do I have multiple tranny issues? I see the K1/K2 kits have helped people.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Hoping it is a simple vacuum adjustment.
Other than that, the car runs great.

Thank you!

[turbobenz]

vacuum modulator?

[legasea]

Vacuum modulator......repair, replace or tune? I will search the forums to find where it is and what it looks like.

Thanks for your reply. Its a starting point for me.

[J-Bear300TD]

Check\replace the Vacuum Valve Lever\s on the 3/2 Valve and the other valve ( if you have one) located on top of the Valve Cover inside that black case. See DieselGiant.com
for parts-Instructions. You can almost bet money they are warn out. Most people don't even realize they're there ( even Mercedes Mechanics ) unless they're 'Salty-Dogs' who've been around. I spent 20 minutes and the car stopped 'flaring' and the shifting was remarkably improved! DieselGiant Rules!

[turbobenz]

ive heard the vac modulators go bad and cause flaring, i thought id just rhow that out there so some other member that knows more can emphasize on it