I read all the time about trans problems and know vacuum plays a major part but never seem to find my exact symptom or year. I think the 85 changed something on the trans from previous years, am I correct?
Anyway, car drove fine until I went to lunch one day at work. It wold not engage any gear and eventually took off on L. I drove around the parking lot, warmed it up on the road a bit and checked the fluid level and condition, both were ok, no smell, still clear. The car would almost "slip" oif you can call it that by revving up between shifts, and then engaging, but smoothly, not with a bang. Stopping at a light is ok, and it would take off normallly until this erratic slipping for lack of better term would happen again. I have had the car 2 years and have yet to do a trans service ( been putting it off, but meant to) and I have no history of it before owning it. 270,000+ miles, odometer quit working a while ago.


So, like everyone, I have 2 questions: vacuum problem or trans? (it is in an indy MB shop right now) and second, if it is a trans, I found one on Craigslist for 150.00 from an '83. Are these compatible?


Thanks in advance for any help, and sorry if this topic has been covered ad nauseum.

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82 240d 4 speed manual. stripped parts car-PM me for requests
85 300d daily driver. Nice reliable beater always a work in progress unknown miles-odom works when it wants
95 E300d. daily driver or trip taker 220k
97 F250 4x4 7.3 turbo ext cab, 8'bed
78 Pontiac Bonneville-my 1st car bought new by parents, my high school graduation present in 1988-sits in garage. needs to come out of mothball

1985 should have the "blue UFO" vacuum amplifier and a revised VCV setup compared to the earlier models. Vacuum shouldn't be causing your issue though. If you want to confirm whether or not vacuum plays a role, you can remove the vacuum line to the modulator and go for a drive. If vacuum is your problem, expect very firm and abrupt changes, almost like a drag-racer.

Start basic, service the thing! For all you know it could be full of muck and have a clogged filter! You could also have problems with a piston, accumulator spring, etc in the valve body. It's a good idea to try to get the problem chased and hopefully solved before driving the car again or you probably will need a new transmission sooner rather than later. Wear occurs rapidly when you're getting slipping during gear changes.

The transmission part number is stamped on the side of the transmission. For best results, find the same trans number for a replacement.

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Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Thank you. I was on the road and a bit away from home when it acted up so I was towed to an Indy. Hopefully it is something as simple as a filter. The guy mentioned exactly what you did: stuck plunger/small filter in valve body possibly or a trans. I told him if it is a simple fix like a vacuum problem or whatever to go ahead and do a trans service anyway. I myself start simple yes. I would service it myself but like I said it was not near home. (40-50 miles) but I know the shop. (Biting my fingernails...) I emailed the craigslist ad for the number on his trans. Thanks for the reply.

The '85 used the 722.4 transmission, which is significantly weaker than the previous 722.3 transmissions. The earlier transmission will work just fine. I swapped my .4 for a .3 when the .4 crapped out. Initially kept the blue saucer setup, but ended up removing it to get rid of all the extra plumbing with no noticeable change in shifting. If I recall correctly (getting more and more doubtful) the NSS configuration is different which might entail swapping that or building a little pigtail adapter.

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Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

Thanks for the swap/compatibilty info. Well, I will wait for the diag from the shop. I can do the swap at a buddy's house if that is what it needs. Hopefully like Diseasel said, it could be as simple as a service. Guess hat is what I get for waiting to service it myself :/

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82 240d 4 speed manual. stripped parts car-PM me for requests
85 300d daily driver. Nice reliable beater always a work in progress unknown miles-odom works when it wants
95 E300d. daily driver or trip taker 220k
97 F250 4x4 7.3 turbo ext cab, 8'bed
78 Pontiac Bonneville-my 1st car bought new by parents, my high school graduation present in 1988-sits in garage. needs to come out of mothball

Haven't heard from the indy yet, but the Craigslist ad came back with these numbers on the side: 126 271 1501. Am I correct in saying this is from a 126? Would it fit? Do I need the numbers from another location on the case? Thanks again in advance for any answers.

__________________
82 240d 4 speed manual. stripped parts car-PM me for requests
85 300d daily driver. Nice reliable beater always a work in progress unknown miles-odom works when it wants
95 E300d. daily driver or trip taker 220k
97 F250 4x4 7.3 turbo ext cab, 8'bed
78 Pontiac Bonneville-my 1st car bought new by parents, my high school graduation present in 1988-sits in garage. needs to come out of mothball

Well, the indy garage never looked at my car. I pulled it out of there with a trailer and it is at a friend's house until this weekend when we plan on looking at it. Scratch that indy off my list. He said it needs a trans. I asked why. He said his rebuilder said so. I asked if they even pulled the pan or looked at anything. Nope, needs a trans. Why? Uh it must be worn out inside. NOt the answer I was looking for. I then asked him about my 95 e300 having a small flare from 3-4 and can it be adjusted. Nope, needs a trans. It is wore out. I adjusted the modulator and firmed up the shifts. No vacuum leaks, no engine power problems so I tried it. Granted, it might be worn on the inside and need springs or the shift kit, but the difference is night and day. Why would a Mercedes/BMW/VW/Audi specialist not look at the trans or tell me they are adjustable? Apathy, lack of knowledge, dishonesty, or a combination of all 3? Either way, I will never be back to them. What a shame. I thought they were a decent garage and I promise to update if and when we find out what is wroing with the trans.

__________________
82 240d 4 speed manual. stripped parts car-PM me for requests
85 300d daily driver. Nice reliable beater always a work in progress unknown miles-odom works when it wants
95 E300d. daily driver or trip taker 220k
97 F250 4x4 7.3 turbo ext cab, 8'bed
78 Pontiac Bonneville-my 1st car bought new by parents, my high school graduation present in 1988-sits in garage. needs to come out of mothball

I learned long ago to fix my cars myself, and being an engineer makes me obligated.

Sounds like either low fluid or slop in shift linkage. It can be tricky to read fluid level since splashing can show falsely high.

Level is ok, I have checked that properly. I did have the same shop replace the shifter assembly a while back because it was causing a no start with slop in the linkage. It was fine after that. Like everyone else says, start simple and check the pan, filter, etc. We can check linkage too, thanks for the idea. It was running ok though before that and got gradually worse in one day as I was driving, so it would have already been in gear so to speak..

__________________
82 240d 4 speed manual. stripped parts car-PM me for requests
85 300d daily driver. Nice reliable beater always a work in progress unknown miles-odom works when it wants
95 E300d. daily driver or trip taker 220k
97 F250 4x4 7.3 turbo ext cab, 8'bed
78 Pontiac Bonneville-my 1st car bought new by parents, my high school graduation present in 1988-sits in garage. needs to come out of mothball

Well we looked at it yesterday and my buddy said the pump is weak. We cracked a cooler line to see what it was putting out and he said just a trickle. It took a while to halfway fill a gallon jug. He said it should have filled 3 in that time. We did notice that even in park the driveshaft tries to rotate when you rev the car. Is that a sign of internal leaks past seal and would a fluid and filter and possible cleaning of the valve body still help that or am I beyond that?

Man opinion on this is that if you can get a tranny on CL for $150-$300 on CL then it makes the most sense to just buy it and take a day and do the swap and be done with it...

Any tranny part that is broken that you find during your diagnosis is going to be $200+ and then you have to pull the tranny anyway to swap out the broken part. And let's face it... We wanna work on the engine, not the transmission right?!!! Haha...

so just finding some guy who did a Toyota swap and has no need for the transmission and just replace the whole ****er and be done with it.



BTW - Your Indy is an idiot for replacing your whole shifter knob when all the had to do was do one google search to see it is only 4 bushings he needs to replace for a total of $10...

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Yeah thanks. He didn't even find the shifter. I did on ebay.
Scouring junkyards and craigslist for a used trans.
I don't even want to work on the engine. I want a perfectly running maintenance free car ha ha.