93 190e 2.6 warm up question
 

Whelp .... I sold the project 190e, aka "junk yard dog" and got a really nice one owner 93 190e 2.6.

When starting off with a cold engine, the transmission is reluctant to up shift unless I give it some RPMs, which I hesitate to do cold.

My question: Is this normal, such as heating up the cat?

It is a California car.

Haasman

my 92 300e does the same thing. I've heard it's pretty common. Works fine after about five minutes of running. I wouldn't be surprised if TransX would help out here, or if there's an additive to lower the viscosity of the trans fluid. This is a good question - I'm interested in the resolution.

Robert

The transmission is designed to hold gear's longer when cold to warm up the tranny quicker. This is the case on every automatic tranny car I have driven. Some hold longer than others.

The actual reason the transmission holds gears longer when cold is emissions. Holding lower gears longer gets the catalyst and O2 sensor up to operating temperature in the shortest possible time.

During the 45 minute EPA emission certification test, about 80 percent of measured emissions are produced during warmup before control goes to closed loop mode, so getting the catalyst and O2 sensor up to operating temperature as quickly as possible is an important emission control strategy.

Duke

So this sounds normal?

Haasman

Yes, I recall reading about it, but can't specifically recall the year it was implemented in specific models/engines/transmissions.

Duke

Sounds normal to me.

I know my 1993 300E (3.2) had an upshift delay valve, that delayed the shift from 2 to 3 when cold.