Adjust Transmission Shift Points on 380SE W126 ?
 

I have done a search and read a lot about the bowden cable, but this appears to apply only to diesels.

My 380SE shifts so early that I have to nail it if I want it to hold in gear for any length of time. This gets tedious and doesn't make for great gas mileage. Shifting manually is not an option.

How can I adjust the shift points so it holds in gear longer?

TIA

The cable is there behind the air cleaner. It adjusts with slides held by screws. Making the cable a bit tighter will give you some relief. But even so, mine upshifts at strange times, like when going up a hill and giving it gas. A 3-2 downshift seems impossible to get unless I floor it. I attribute it to old age, since its fine otherwise.

380sel runs through all four gears by 30mph
 

Hi gmercoleza,

I am experiencing the same with my 82 380sel runs through all four gears by 30mph.

Car does have rough idle during cold start. Haven't had time to check it out yet, but based on many posting here in the forum the finger points to a vac. leak some where.

Hopefully this weekend or next I will have a chance to find it. Good luck, and I will try and keep you posted if I find anything.

biggbob

PS. Having to get on it to get it to shift down when you need it to is a gas killer and cant be good for the tranny...

My 85' 380SE sometimes takes a bit of an extra push on the accelerator pedal to get it to upshift from 3rd to 2nd. Not too far, but sometimes further than cars I have had in the past.

I wish I knew of my tranny adjusted properly, because I am not familair with these cars. It seems fine though. It has a firm 1-2 shift when cold, that softens when the engine is warm. The 2-3 and 3-4 shifts are not as firm when cold, but more noticable than it is on my American made cars. When hot, the 2-3 and 3-4 shifts are very smooth. They are at the point I would like them to be, so I guess as long as I am happy with the shifts, then it is OK? :D I do not like them to be too firm, which they are not. My only issue with my tranny is that when the engine is warm, it engages harshly when I put it in gear- especially reverse. It bangs into gear- so the only time I use reverse is when the engine is cold. When the engine is hot, I usually park the car where I do not have to use reverse. Yes, its frustrating sometimes to say the least. :rolleyes: :D

That's one of the main reasons I want to adjust it. In the last few weeks I have been driving "manually" using the gearshift and have managed to consistently hit 17mpg in mixed driving with the a/c on 100 percent of the time. That's almost as good as my 300E which has a much smaller engine but gets only 19mpg in mixed driving with a/c. Also, I have found this car can be fairly quick if driven this way. Allowing it to shift on its own, it's a slug.

OK, bump. I have looked and can't for the life of me find the bowden cable on this 85 W126. Does anyone have a picture or a description?

I have a couple of files with photos that detail this proceedure. They're for a 201, but the adjustment is the same regardless of model.

Send me an e-mail and I'll send the files to you -- they'll definately be a tremendous help. (the two files are less than a half meg)

jp

I found the slide adjuster with a small bolt on the top. I moved it to the maximum adjustment and went on a test drive. The car wouldn't upshift until about 5500 RPM, and when it did it would chirp the tires! You should've seen the looks on the faces of the mothers with baby strollers waiting at one of the corners I turned. Anyway, I adjusted it back to exactly halfway between maximum and the original location, and all is much better now. Took all of 5 minutes to adjust. I should've done this months ago!