bowden cable (tried search already)

[Benz300]

Could someone explain to me (in plain english) where the bowden cable on 87 260E is located ?
I need to adjust mine.
a picture is worth a thousand words

[chazola]

since no-one else has piped-up, I'll tell you where mine is, ('92 300E so may be different), but it's located at the back of the driver's side of the engine, under the back part of the air-cleaner assembly, right next to the oil filter. The throttle linkages are here, and you'll see what looks like a bicycle brake cable, with a white plastic nut adjuster along it. I adjusted mine recently, and it made the car 'wake up'- what a difference.

[Benz300]

thanks for the reply ! i'll look for it tomorrow.
do i need to take anything off to access the cables ? meaning do any parts need to be removed first to get to the cables ?

[chazola]

you can access the cable adjuster (on my 300E anyway) without having to remove the air cleaner assembly. If I remember rightly, you move the adjuster towards the firewall for higher rev's before it shifts, and opposite for faster lower rev shifts. I set mine so the transmission shifts at around 2000 to 3000 rpm with 'normal' pressure on the gas pedal. This translated to 2 1/2 turns I think. Before it would shift up through the gears quite fast, making acceleration quite sluggish.
I also made a mark on the adjuster and cable and counted the number of turns I made, just in-case I screwed it up

[Benz300]

I finally got around opening the hood to adjust the bowden cable.
The bowden cable is easily accessible, it is right next to the oil filter. black cable with a white plastic screw much like a bicycle brake cable to adjust the tension in it. simply put the tighter the cable adjustment the better the shifting " higher revs before shifting". i tried a couple of times with diffent settings to get to where i wanted it to be. basically anticlockwise will make trans shift at higher revs.
I also took out the black center air filter housing, not just the top that is used to take out the air filter. below the air intake is the adjustment for the accelerator cable as well. i found considerable slack in that cable and tightened it appropriately.
the car now is considerabely less sluggish, it is more responsive, and the constant need for me to downshift manually using the d to 3 is not needed anymore.
i suggest everyone who has a sluggish acceleration to make sure these two cables are properly adjusted.
good luck

[nglitz]

Very good! Glad your car runs better.

"Bowden cable" is just British English for any flexible cable in a jacket. Throttle cables, transmission cables, bike brake cables, etc.

Flexibly,

[Benz300]

interesting. i'm sure many don't know the defnition since i've always seen the 'bowden cable' being referred to as the 'transmission cable' going between the accelerator mechanism to the transmission assembly. perhaps there's a different technical name for it as well.