My Superior Shift Kit thread (W124 300DT)
 

Hi folks,

I have been doing some transmission troubleshooting by testing the critical vacuum components (I need to do more of this), but also adjusting the transmission thrust cable and the accelerator cable nut. A few weeks ago, I put in a K1 kit and it made a huge difference from 1st to 2nd. Now I've erroneously said that the K1 takes care of 1st to 2nd, but in fact, it takes care of 2 to 3. Now i can only say from the feel of the transmission, it did make the 1 to 2 shifting a helluva lot better. But according to specs, this is not the way the K1 is supposed to work (its designed for the 2 to 3 shift)

Instructions are amazing and not too difficult to understand. See pic 1.

So I tried to do more adjustments with the thrust cable nut (some people call this the bowden cable nut) to adjust the shift points, but all it did was to make 1 really good, but all the other gears suffered. So I had a feeling that something was not quite right. So having had experience w/ the K1 kit, I decided to pony up $60 or so bucks to buy the Superior shift kit.

After draining the trans pan of all the fluids, I removed the pan and saw that I needed to remove the filter out of the way. I drained it and stuck the 3 screws in a gallon sized ziploc bag.

The K2 was just as easy to remove as the K1 accumulator. Of note, the K2 is directly on the opposite side of the K1, so its on the rear side of the valve body. See pic #2. I took out 3 of the 4 screws, pivoted the plate out of the way, and then removed the K2 Elmer Fudd slowly.

So what do I find? See picture #3. So what's wrong? The plastic ends are missing!!! Flat out G-O-N-E. I thought I mightve dropped it, but no, it cant be. Later I fished around for them, but to no avail.

So given that the springs have nothing to hold it together, it was using the wall of the metal plate and the inside of the accumulator to compress into. Since that would (theoretically) mean that it would take a fraction longer to start the compression effect, it would be akin to a softer spring. And in these shift kits softer springs = softer shifts. I am about 80% confident that my understanding is correct, but if not, please correct me in this thread.

So now I have to order the K2 accumulator from a parts seller :mad::mad::mad: Man, I want to drive this thing again! But if there's a silver lining in this cloud, its knowing that my crappy 3 - 4 shifts were probably more due to the lost plastic ends. Nevertheless, I'm going to experiment with the springs and see what happens. I can only thing of positives at this point. Who knows, maybe once I get the shifting all dialed in, I can break 20 second 0 to 60 runs!

Bob

I am experiencing a 2-3 flare only when cold. Based on your experience, do you think I should try the K1 kit or the Superior kit?

722.3 transmission / '82 300D.

K1 fixes the 2 to 3 shift. try lower weight synthetic trans oil, or so i've read. make sure you chekc your vac system first though

The transmission shifts great except when relatively cold, so I would think that would reasonably exclude a vacuum issue.

I just called the local dealer to order the K1 kit. The parts man insists that that there is no such part; he talked to a mechanic who confirmed his conclusion!!!

You know, if I had to do it again, I'd just pony up the bucks and get the Superior kit because it has a spring fix for every imaginable (or common) shift issue throughout *all* the gears.

That sounds like the way to go. Every time I try to save money, it costs me in the long run.

damnit, I'm going to have you do all my shopping from now on! :)

Just get the superior kit, worth every penny in my opinion.

Hey Bob, my instructions from my superior kit show there were 2 styles of k-2, one had just 2 springs and the other had 3 springs and the other associated parts you were expecting. You most likely have the 2 spring train. My superior kit had me remove all that stuff anyway. Check out your instructions a bit better. I will send you a photo of mine and hilight what I am talking about if you need.

Edit. Just looked closer at your photos. Your photo with your superior kit instructions, the far right page. The top illustration, step 1-8. Go up to the K2 and see the arrow pointing down to the smaller box below? Thats what I am talking about.

(thud---sound of sledgehammer hitting the idiot)

81,

good gawd, how did I ever overlook that!??! You are absolutely 100% correct. I guess I do have the 2 spring train. I think what threw me off and/or confused me was the other diagram under the title "Helpful Information" which shows that both K1 and K2 have the plastic and 3 spring assembly. See the attachment. Also, on the right side of the same instruction sheet, it shows the B1 accumulator spring train as either being a 2 part or a 3 part spring train.

So for others reading, 81 is right. The K2 has either a 2 spring train without the plastic pieces that mate together like the K1 or the 3 spring train with the two plastic pieces. this is shown in the 2nd attachment

So I'm good to go to install this weekend :)

Ok, after re-studying the heck out of the schematics, I took off the valve body and went to work installing all the springs yesterday. I have a mess of pics that I'll post online, but that'll be later. The kit's springs allows you to correct alot of the common transmission ailments. I installed springs to soften 1st to 2nd as well as firming up 2-3 and 3-4 to kill the neck snapping flaring I had. I also installed the control shift cable (aka transmission cable, bowden cable, etc) to the transmission. That was a challenge. Find someone with skinny, dainty fingers to help! Or, use extensions. I'll detail more later. But anyways, with the springs installed and adjusting the control shift cable, I no longer have:

1 - 2: Softened shift into next gear and decreased the rpm shift point
2 - 3: NO MORE HARSH KICK into the next gear. I can keep my foot WOT on the pedal, it will shift around 3400 rpm (instead of 4000 or above), hang just long enough before shifting into gear. THere's no more harsh kick. It just shifts into gear as any auto transmission should.
3 - 4: Same as above.

I also adjusted the accelerator cable adjustment nut after I adjusted the control shift cable nut too. I don't think I've found the happy medium between the two, but pretty close.

I would say that because of the almost correct shift points and near elimination of the slipping and flaring, it does feel faster. However, I still believe my 0 - 60 is still higher than it should be. I did a rough count and I feel its around 20 to 22 seconds. But that's alot better than the low to mid 30s I had a few weeks ago (IP seals and copper gasket replacement took care of that). I still need to work on troubleshooting why my car still feels a tad sluggish.

Thanks for this and Bowden cable thread, Bob!
I am about to go through all these steps, that you did, to fix my tranny issue.
Is superior kit includes K1 kit?

Regards,
Diesel_fan

In the documentation I posted above, the tech support # is outdated. It is 850-575-7877. In the documentation, they keep saying "Early 722.3 vs. Late 722.3 adn 722.4". I called them about that and they faxed me these two docs that clears up the confusion. Trouble is, you have to remove the valve body to be 100% sure! :)

I'll post all the docs that came in the box later tomorrow.

Diesel,

What's great about this kit is that it covers all the common problems throughout each gear transition (1 to 2, 2 to 3, and 3 to 4). So in order:

B1 accumulator: 1st to 2nd
K1: 2nd to 3rd
K2: 3rd to 4th

So i spent about an hour fine tuning it. I took the wife out to dinner and we took the Benz. She was really impressed that the shifts do not hold on at high rpms and then slam into the next gear. She hates this more than anything, so she was very pleased on the drive tonight.

When you work on this, shoot me an email and I'll help you as much as I can. I'm going to try to write a transmission reconditioning writeup soon before all of it escapes my memory (which is really short!). I took alot of pics, so that should be a big help too

Here are the docs. 2 of them are on 11 x 17 paper.

Do you have to take off the valve body to do this work? I thought you could get to all the springs without removing the valve body.

Sixto
87 300D

If you do the entire kit you have to pull the valve body. Don't be afraid of doing that though. Pay attention and take your time it will be easy. You can do K1 and K2 with the valve body on.


Bob I will add to your reconditioning thread if I see anything needed. I have rebuilt 2 of these transmissions in the last 4 months including superior kits so I got a pretty fresh picture of it all.

Thanks, Bob!
Will do.

I found the kit, but how do I get this 'Livesearch rebate" of 25%?

Bob, I have to press because I haven't seen a response. The K1 kit you got form MB had plastic parts that hold coaxial springs. There are no such parts in the Superior kit but it claims to have all the parts needed to improve shifts. Do you have to separate and reuse the plastic K1 spring retainer when installing the Suprerior kit or does the Superior kit rely on an intact factory K1 kit?

Thanks,
Sixto
87 300D

There is two different options for the k1, first is normal firm shift you just replace the end spring in K1. The other option is for firmer shifts you replace the entire springtrain including the spring retainer with a single spring(this is what I did)

six,

sorry, i mustve missed your reply. yes, what 81 said. i have a built K1 oem kit that i said i'd send to you if you want it. i can send you the stacked shift springs if you'd like too. just email me your address again if you want them all.

bob

Bob, have you checked the vacuum signal going to your transmission? After reading your blog I wondered if you hadn't turned the blead off valve adjuster too much.

-Jeb

jfowler,

yes, you are definitely right. i am sure I did and i am going to do some vac tests this weekend. I have to find my vac pressure gauge in my garage---been meaning to do that for a few weeks now.

Did those four pages come with your kit? I just received my kit in the mail; the only instructions that were included was the page on "stacked 2-3 shifts."

As I had everything disassembled and ready to go back together, the lack of instructions is more than a little irritating. If I could only read the fine print of the bottom of the fourth page, I might be good to go.

Tango,

there were 2 docs only, both double sided.

Check your email.

Bob

Superior Shift Kit Instructions
 

Does any one have the instructions scanned in their computer that they could e mail me. There was only one page in the box.

Thanks

chris,

you might have received the updated 722.3 page. i rec'd a page when i called because i was confused about the 2 or 3 train thing w/ the K1 and K2

bob

Anyone have pics of the valve body out of the car? I am going to do this job this weekend and try to do the whole kit. And if you take out the valve body out of the car do you have to separate it and risk the steel ball falling out or can you leave it together. Are the halves held together by screws?

Thanks

chris,

read this: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?p=1789037#post1789037

good info for you with additional links.

bob

Replacing the K1/K2/B1 accumulator control valve springs will require separating the valve body. (Steps 2 & 6 in the instructions.) Those valves are secured by retainers that can only be accessed from the top side of the lower valve body.

From what I have gathered from reading a variety of sources, the valve body halves are secured by two screws, apparently accessed from the upper side. The key to avoiding disaster, from all indications, is to remove the screws with the valve body right side up, then turn it upside down before separating, ensuring that the separator plate remains attached to upper half of the valve body, which is now on the bottom.

tango,

thats my recollection too. if in doubt, just dont turn the darn thing over :)

Meaning don't turn the upper half over? Or don't turn the entire valve body over? As far as I can tell, there is nothing that requires access to the lower side on the upper half.

i was being facetious :) the one thread i linked to showed that the person who separated the two halves lifted the top piece off and then the balls fell out. apparently you should turn it over, undo the two halves and then lift the now bottom part up.

but yes, no need to separate the valve bodies from each other to do K1, K2 and B1

I think that would depend on whether you are referring to the accumulators or the accumulator control valves. Seems to me that the valve body must be separated to remove the control valves. Otherwise, there is no reason to separate it.

tango,

yes, i was referring to the accumulators.

The plate that seperates the two halves has telltale marks in it that indicates where a ball was, so if you do mess up its not too huge a deal.

You want to remove the valve body, remove the 2 screws holding the halves together(from the top) then hold it together while flipping it over, setting it so that the bottom of the valve body is facing up. Then you can pull the bottom of the valve body off and do your work.

I went ahead and installed the rest of the spring kit. As I had suspected, I should have left "well enough" alone. After initially installing the large K1 accumulator spring and small K2 accumultor spring, my transmission shifted quite well. The 2-3 flare was completely eliminated. The only minor complaint was that the 1-2 shift was a bit firm.

After installing the remiander of the kit, the 1-2 is way late and much harder than before. The 2-3 is about right, and the 3-4 shift won't happen until about 45 mph. I suppose the next step is to uninstall everything except the originally installed springs. I just hope that will restore the previous performance and that removing/opening the valve body has not caused undesired consequences.

Tango,

When you say "rest of the kit", do you mean the B1 accumulator springs? It is supposed to soften out the 1 to 2, iirc as i dont have the manuals in front of me. Did you check your vac pressure on the transmission vac line? If its softening of the shift you need, try turning the transmission modulator a full CCW turn (softens). I've tweaked mine back up to firmer shifts (CW) after I cleaned out the overboost solenoid (vac transducers is the official name) and the other vac transducer near the strut

I installed the B1/B2 accumulator springs, the B1 control valve spring, the K1/K2 control valve springs(2) and the TV pressure control valve springs (2).

Initially, with the valve body still installed, I had replaced the K1 accumulator spring with the purple spring and installed the shorter, blue spring in the K2 accumulator spring train. The results then were very good; the 2-3 flare (which was the major problem) was gone and the 2-3 & 3-4 shift quality was excellent. It's when I tried to go from 'very good" to "perfect" that things went downhill.

The vacuum levels at the vacuum control valve are 15" at idle, 5.5" with the test disk installed. I have 23" at the pump.

I'm contemplaing the Superior kit because of a hard 1-2 shift and almost simultaneous 2-3 and 3-4 shifts under light throttle. It's in 4th before 40 mph under light throttle but no flaring. It's actually not so bad since the engine has enough torque but I don't think this 722.3 was designed to emulate a Powerglide. With more pedal, 1-2 firmness is more acceptable (not actually softer) and 2-3 and 3-4 spacing... well, there is perceptible spacing and it seems right.

I can install the whole kit but I hate to introduce a lot of variables. I'm looking for support to do step 6, maybe step 7 and maybe step 8, and the 2-3 and 3-4 springs in the stacked 2-3 shift page. Any thoughts or counterpoints?

If I follow this tack, do the upper and lower valve body have to come apart?

Sixto
87 300D

Steps 2 & 6 require separating the valve body. The B1 control valve (step 6) is retained by a lock which can only be accessed by splitting the valve body. Same for the K1 & k2 control valves in step 2.

I just got done installing the superior shift kit. I did the just the springs to make the 1-2 softer, 2-3 firm & 3-4 firm. The two springs for the B-1 came out in 7 pieces so my hard 1-2 shift cam be explained by that. I am going to use synthetic trans fluid and take it out on the road tomorrow and see what, if any, the improvements are. Will post with results. What I did on the kit took about an hour after I let the fluid drain for about an hour. The kit was easy but the directions could be better.

I uninstalled many of the kit options today and finally have a transmission that shifts quite well. Left in place was the purple K1 accumulator spring, the short dark blue K2 accumulator spring and the "plain" B1 accumulator control valve spring.

Here are some lessons learned:

The instructions furnished with the kit (or should I say the instructions that should have been furnished with the kit) are excellent in some ways and lacking in others.

There are transmissions that do not fit squarely into either the early or late model definitions.

When separating the upper and lower valve body assemblies, it is important that the separator plate not be allowed to slide. Inserting a couple of the valve body bolts "backwards" will keep the plate in place. After removing the two screws that hold the valve body together, flip the body upside down (hold together tightly) and then lift the lower portion (which is now on top)off of the upper half (now on the bottom), leaving the two through bolts in place (heads down) so that the separator plate cannot slip from its original position.

Work in a clean, well lit and uncluttered area.

Label all springs removed from the valve body. You might need to put them back where they came from if the kit springs don't work as anticipated.

The small valve body screws are quite tight and it is easy the strip the slots with an ordinary, tapered screw driver blade. Hollow ground screwdrivers or bits work much better. (A gunsmith screwdriver kit is perfect.)

Consider installing only the kit components that address the problems that you are experiencing. Attempting to fix problems that you don't have may result in new problems.

The drawing in post #11 here http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?p=1789037#post1789037 is invaluable if you need to (or inadvertantly ) remove the separator plate from the upper valve body. Expect several on the components to stick to the plate and/or "spring" free. Items 4,5 8 & 9 deserve particular attention. Except for item 4, which is a check ball seated on a spring, the remainder of the check balls are deeply recessed and should not move as long as the upper valve body remains flat.

Torque the 15 valve body bolts to 8 Nm.

Posting diagram of valve body small parts for posterity.

Sixto
87 300D

I got my Superior kit the other day and it didn't have any instructions on how to put them together, what I got are stacked 2-3 shift instruction with two springs stapled in a ziploc bag and a photocopy of B1-ACV-11, softer 1-2 shift for 1990 & up.
I have an 87 300D that does not shift to third gear and I think bob is the one who recommended and gave the link for the superior kit, can anyone email ot IM me the instruction or give me a link on the instructions so that I can try to put this kit in this weekend.

Thanks Chuck
thefishdaddy@yahoo.com

Sent by email.

Tango,
I got the email and will try to see if I can figure this thing out and hopefully there wont be another earthquake Like the one we had last night, while I'm under a very heavy and greasy car.

thanks a lot
Chuck

I went in and change the K1 and K2 springs and made a few mistakes, not really fully understanding the instructions on what springs goes with what, I have an 87 300D and the transmission says 722.3x forgot the last few numbers. I will just post the pics of what I have done, not knowing all the technical names of the parts or right terms to use so just bare with me, maybe someone can give me a dumb proof way of installing this kit, like what color goes to what end.

This is what the K2 springs look like when I just got them out of the transmission.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/DSC03438.jpg


After a little bit of cleaning and taking it apart
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/DSC03445.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/DSC03446.jpg

This is where the white plastic and the short spring go, do I need to replace this spring.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/DSC03447.jpg


This is where the broken and the smaller diameter spring go in, I am missing all the plastic parts the same problem with Bob’s car, and where can I buy these parts or the whole K2 kit, what is the part number, as you can see the inside of the green plastic thing is worn out, on the instruction that Tango emailed me and Bob post, there is a 3 train and a 2 train spring on the K2, I think I have the 2 train springs so do I go to step 5 (late 722.3 and all 722.4 models): it says “install the original inner spring inside the red spring installed in step 3, I don’t have a red spring in my kit the only red spring is a very tiny one, what I do have that fits are blue, kinda orangie one and a maroon colored one.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/DSC03448.jpg


This is the K1 springs except the Blue and deep purple springs those came from the superior kit, is there any other springs that is in the superior kit that goes in with the K1.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/DSC03449.jpg


This is what I Broke when putting them together, the white and the black plastic stuff can’t hold the purple spring together and I accidentally broke it, where can I buy these parts coz I went to the House of Imports in Buena Park, showed them a photo of the one that is on the forum part number “A 126 270 44 77” and the guy in the parts counter can’t find it, and I went check out fastlane and it’s not listed there.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/DSC03450.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/DSC03451.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/DSC03452.jpg


I think I have a big problem my Transmission Pan looks bad, there are little bits of metal dust particles in the bottom its like metal mud, am I in trouble or is this normal.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/DSC03439.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/DSC03440.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/DSC03441.jpg



Thanks for all the help that I got, Bob asked me what I was doing driving a 20 year old car 120mph, read in this forum to do an Italian tune up on this car and that I did, it was a good idea that time and now that I thought about it, that probably killed my transmission.


Chuck

You should have a total of five large springs-Purple, Pink, Red, Orange and Light Blue. (Either the Pink or Red spring will not be used, depending on transmission model.)

If you replace the K-1 spring train with the Purple spring, you don't need anything else. No plastic parts. Nothing but the Purple spring and the piston.