Just My LUCK!! spare car 85SD sticks in 1st!!
 

:mad:
MY 87 wagon is having trans issues, so while it's in the shop, I'm readying the SD, and IT"S GOT TRANNY PROBLEMS NOW...
it drove home fine from the lot, I cleaned the body, and looked over the coolant and alt belt some... got in it to drive home for the swap with the 83 wagon, and it won't shift out of first...

WTF!???

anything simple to check tomorrow afternoon when I get back to it in the daylight?:confused::mad::mad::mad::rolleyes:

Wind that baby up. They forget how to shift if they don't do it for a while and need to be reminded. Or, you could unplug the kickdown or free up the bowden cable if those are the causes.

Welcome to my hell. I replaced the sticking tranny in my '80 300td (which turned out to be a botched rebuild, loose pieces of what were screws found in the valve body) with a known good one I had sitting for several years from my old 240d... and it does the same.

BTDT x2.... It could be a sticking or broken B1, no?

That is my next stop, in terms of looking.

I'm inclined to agree with Kerry. May have sit for too long and needs to get the kinks out.

Hopefully.

Double check the kickdown switch under the fuel pedal is not stuck.

Suck hard (mityvac) on the vac line to the mod. loosen bowden cable.

look on the bright side!
 

New parts on the way!

ok, I drove it more today, it shifted fine when started cold. I drove all around town, and on the highway, parked for dinner, then got in it to head over to a service call... felt stuck in first. decided to REALLY feel it out, and it got up to about 25mph. slowed and payed extreme attention to what was going on. it was stuck in 2nd, not first, so ZERO shifting. checked fluid and it was very bubbly. put it in reverse, back in D, and pulled off slowly... shifted 1, 2, 3, 4, no issues. drove all around town, down interstate, pulled into jobsite, serviced the freezer, drove off, D only, stuck in 2. I downshifted all the way to 1, and felt it drop into 1, popped shifter back to 2,D, and it went back to 2, but would not go further... put it in park, let it idle a bit, back to D, stuck in 2 still...

put it in R, and it backed up, put it back in D, and slowly pulled off, got 1, 2, 3, and 4...
WTF!

drove normally all the way home.

what's the gremlin?

I know it sounds elementary to guys like you and I, but did you check the kick down switch under the go pedal??? My car did the same thing. Its amazing what a little WD40 will do for a sticky switch.

the WORST a stuck kick down switch will do is hold gears to the maximum shift point.
I was able to hold the gear all the way beyond the speed marks for the gear, and it still did not shift.

it's gotta be something in the valve body. motor sounded like it would explode... the tach is not working, so I do not know how high the RPM's got, but it was WAY beyond what the kick down switch would do.

oooo...yeah, in that case perhaps a sticky valve body. I would try servicing it and see what lurks at the bottom of the pan. Add trans X

Incidently, I was in your neighborhood in G-town today trying to rescue my daughter from an overheating 1999 5.7 Suburban. She's pushing coolant out the reservoir and skipping, but no coolant in oil or exhaust. Also hearing an upper end clanking. Perhaps a loose valve seat from a cracked head. Needless to say, I left it to tow back.

Sounds like not a good day for either one of us...:(

eeew... I was in town until around 3, where was she broken down? I might have saved you a trip if you'd given me a call...

Walgreen's on the corner of 274 and 74. Its okay. I needed to assess. I am going after it this morning. I appreciate the offer and concern.

you mean 273 right?

That would be my guess. Probably sticky varnish deposits or a seal that's been dry too long and not doing its job. I'd stay away from those "rebuilds in a bottle" they could do more long term damage to the other seals. If it doesn't get better with a change of fluid & filter it's probably time to rebuild or exchange the VB.