also, things have been incredibly fun since the vacuum system fix. I couldn't stop myself from driving 200 miles around the Hudson Valley NY yesterday. Up and over plenty of long inclines with ease. Here was one celebratory lookout... https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4482480/uptop.mov
Thanks for all the help !!!!

Are you saying that opening up that plugged vac line (which just goes to atmosphere) resolved both your power and your shifting problems?

Power:absolutely!
Shifting: no

I have vastly improved performance in power. Sometimes it shocks me how much boost I can get. The rebuilt turbo helps in that regard, but the issue was largely the one blocked air vent tube in vac, yes. Even after installing the turbo, I got pretty much the same exact weak power I'd had previously. After opening that plugged spot to cabin air, the car has been performing with lots of strength. And with basically no smoke out back ever.

I will soon do/get a valve adjustment and I'm sure that will help some performance things too, but my only major concern left is shifting. It doesn't seem right. It's the same as it was before. I never feel four gears. And getting out of "first" seems way late. So if the vac system does in fact have a significant impact of timing of shifting, I will push through and do a full vac measurement and adjustment.

And I may be crazy but I seem to be getting something like 28 mpg right now. Plenty of hills involved around where I live too. I definitely wasn't getting anything close to that when I first picked up the car several months ago.

I only have my '81 300SD as reference but as I remember the vac only controls the quality of the shift, i.e. crisp vs softer. And the Bowden cable affects when it shifts, the shift points. Not sure whether vac problems can cause stacking.

But with the power problem resolved, you are making great progress.

There is an exhibit which shows each gear and which K1, B2, etc valves are involved in each shift. Do not know if this would help with stacking but you might take a look at it.

Thanks! What is this "exhibit" you refer to?
Also is there any sort of device or diy rig I can connect that will allow me to monitor what gear i am in while driving? That would sure help me evaluate things.

It is a table which shows K1, B2, etc and how these are involved in all four shifts. By tracking which shifts are problems, you might be able to detect which valve is common and needs to be changed.

I spent about an hour this morning trying to find it without success then posted a new thread asking for help. Someone will find it for me and I will paste it in.

Have actually tracked it down before and do not know why I could not find it this morning.

Wow that's very kind of you thank you. I look forward to it.
So with the information that this exhibit displays, how does one then go about testing to see the behavior of the shifting and thus compare it to the exhibit?

Take a video of you accelerating from 0-60 including both the speedo and tach and post it here so others can comment on your shifting.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

This table will only help if you do in fact have a bad K1 or B2 etc. Do not think the guys on the forum have yet an opinion about what is causing your problem. This table is just another resource if needed. Will continue trying to find it.

Here it is:

Attached Thumbnails

 

I know this thread has gotten a bit off topic but figured i'd pick it up since i have a little more information.
I have aligned to the bowden cable to where it should be and also have done some basic testing of vacuum and temporarily separated the door locks from the vacuum system just to isolate potential leaks.
I also am preparing to install new engine mounts. And several other things as well soon.
But after the minor work to the bowden and vacuum as stated above, my shifting issue seems to be a little more clear. I am getting good shifts between 3rd and 4th now, where as that was pretty murky and weird before.
So from start, with steady gentle pressure on the accelerator, i get a healthy 1st gear but it travels way up to 3200/3500 rpms and then shifts away down in rpms to what seems to me to be 3rd gear, and then finally 4th gear.
It seems to skip 2nd completely. I've never gotten three shifts and/or four gears. And this behavior is repeatable over and over again. The car is very drivable. It just is annoying and concerning. Naturally i want four gears!
But the shifts that DO occur, well they seem healthy and reliable. Gentle enough but definite as well. So i'm starting to think this isn't about vacuum, which i know affects shift quality, nor is it about the bowden cable which affects shift timing. The timing from 3rd to 4th seems good, and if you can use your imagination the timing between non existant 2nd and 3rd seems right. Like 1st gear really just hangs on twice as long as it should and takes up two gears of timing.
I haven't made a video yet because i've been addressing serveral other issues that were more critical than not having 2nd gear.
Looking at that chart just above, is it possible that this could be the B1 piston being wrecked? I don't claim to understand all of this or that chart, but that's the only component that is isolated to 2nd gear. If that piston was dead, would my car's behavior make sense?

Yes could likely be B1 lots of good threads on the subject.

__________________
92 e300d2.5t
01 e320
05 cdi
85 chev c10

thanks!
I've poked around a good bit but i have a couple of newbie questions since it's a bit overwhelming to be researching...

- Is it possible to open up the B1 slot without removing the transmission?
- Is there a chance the problem is the "reaction valve" which is on the driver side of transmission, rather than the passenger?
- In the B1 slot (cylinder?) is there a spring AND a piston? And what usually is broken when "b1" is busted? The piston? Or the spring? Or seals?
- Could this have been caused by low trans oil levels?