This is a 1983 Euro spec 300d. I put in a "Vacuum Only" transmission from a 1980/81 wagon and I'm getting a quick 1-2 shift, a 2-3 flare and a ultra smooth 3-4 shift. New Fluid at the right level.

I've been doing lots of reading and got all set up to do the tests.

First thing I did was measure vacuum between the T in the main vacuum line and the green dash pot; It bounced around between 13-15

Then I measured it between the green dash pot and the IP: It was a steady 15 and went up with acceleration.

Then I measured it between the IP and the transmission: It's a steady 13 and drops to 3-5 upon initial throttle, however, it climbs right back up to where it was at 13. If I let off the throttle and hit it again, the same thing happens. Is that normal?

QUESTION #1 Do I have too much vacuum going to VCV so it can't "spill" enough fast enough? long enough?

The next test I did was from DieselDan where you take a banjo bolt, some hose and a pressure guage and attach it to the test port.

The specs in his thread showed that my transmission should have 2.8 bar of pressure at 30km/h. Mine idled at 10 bar and went up from there!! I'm thinking OK, I'll just back out the T handle on the modulator and watch the guage drop (engine running) until it's right. The pressure never dropped when I backed the T handle out. It did drop to 8 after numerous turns in (clockwise) but then stopped.

I think I can deal with the vacuum issue but the high pressure in the transmission has me stumped. Army? Govert? Any suggestions? Could the filter cause that? PO said "recent change" but that's first on the list tomorrow unless its snowing again.

Also, I changed out the 240D radiator that had been rigged in there and when I unscrewed the trans cooler lines, not much fluid came out; not what I was expecting anyway. I checked the fluid before this with the car at operating temp and in neutral so it seems like there should have been more fluid in there.

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1981 300TD "The Green Lantern"
1980 300TD
1983 300D Euro "China Cat"