1988 300se tranny Q's

[xtreme barton]

what controls the kick down ? is there a switch controlled by vacuum ? if so is it cleanable or adjustable ? seems when im cruising on interstate at low spd. and rpm's in 4th and i floor it it just drags until it catches up on rpm's and then its fine. i cant get it to kick down into third gear when completely floored.. if i go a bit slower it will kick down but mainly when im at approx 55-60mph 3000rpm and up it wont kick down.

also on the passenger side of tranny located on the side of the tranny near rear there is a little round housing i believe held in by three allen head bolts.. seems to be leaking around that .. as far as i can see nothing connects to it externally but i would really like to stop the small leak ..


and im experiencing at normal driving from a stop to cruising the rpms and shift times seem to be ok but when it does shift it seems to take longer than needed to shift to the next gear and when it does the rpm's fall low and it seems to be slugish until i pick up more speed in that gear ..from first to second gear its ok.. but second to third is where i notice it allot and third to fourth is medium .. if they made a shift kit im sure it would solve the problem but what may be causing the slow transfer of gears ?


can anything else be adjusted on the tranny ..like shift points ?

thanks for your help .. seems after reading that i didnt explain it very well but give it a shot

[mbdoc]

I think that what you are experiencing is somewhat normal.
The car weighs in at 3600+ and has only 187HP(when new), so it will be somewhat slow.

Shift points are adjustable thru the control pressure cable. The FULL throttle is controlled by a switch under the gas pedal.

The rear pump in on the passenger side & is held on by 3 allens & a nut. There are 2 o-rings that DO leak.

[xtreme barton]

where can i locate the control pressure cable ? and what is needed to adjust it ? is it a simple turn it to the left or right ?

also when you said the rear pump ..i looked for a new one but couldnt find it online (just to see what it looked like) .. i pretty sure now that you said its held down with a bolt too that is it ..where can i get new seals so it doesnt leak anymore ? hopefully i done have to buy a kit just the two seals would be nice ... do you see them in this link ? http://www.***************/search/product.aspx?sid=oekhtd55qur5muupvcdzvr55&makeid=800016@Mercedes&modelid=1194094@300SE&year=1988&cid=33@Transmission/Transaxle%20System&gid=8488@Transmission%20Gasket/Bushing/O-Ring

[david s poole]

the pump itself won't be bad just one of the "o" rings most likely the centre cover[held in by snap ring].the rear pump i s there so you can tow start the car at approx 35mph.

[xtreme barton]

ok cool thanks ..
on a scale from 1-10 how hard would it be to drop the tranny and rebuild it ? i got access to tons of tools .. also we have a full time shop mechanic if i run into trouble .. hardest thing ive done (which really wasnt hard) was put a new head on this car .. how does the difficulty scale compare ?

[C32AMG]

Originally Posted by xtreme barton

what controls the kick down ? is there a switch controlled by vacuum ? if so is it cleanable or adjustable ? seems when im cruising on interstate at low spd. and rpm's in 4th and i floor it it just drags until it catches up on rpm's and then its fine. i cant get it to kick down into third gear when completely floored.. if i go a bit slower it will kick down but mainly when im at approx 55-60mph 3000rpm and up it wont kick down.

also on the passenger side of tranny located on the side of the tranny near rear there is a little round housing i believe held in by three allen head bolts.. seems to be leaking around that .. as far as i can see nothing connects to it externally but i would really like to stop the small leak ..


and im experiencing at normal driving from a stop to cruising the rpms and shift times seem to be ok but when it does shift it seems to take longer than needed to shift to the next gear and when it does the rpm's fall low and it seems to be slugish until i pick up more speed in that gear ..from first to second gear its ok.. but second to third is where i notice it allot and third to fourth is medium .. if they made a shift kit im sure it would solve the problem but what may be causing the slow transfer of gears ?


can anything else be adjusted on the tranny ..like shift points ?

thanks for your help .. seems after reading that i didnt explain it very well but give it a shot

The Kick down switch is located under the gas pedal, with the ignition on, passenger side door open, floor the gas pedal you should hear the kick down solenoid click on the rear of the transmission, if you don’t, reach under the pedal and by hand push the switch down, round plastic piece. If you still don’t hear a click in the rear of the transmission, the switch or solenoid is defective or you have a broken wire or no power to the wire.

The Bowden cable is located by the gas pedal linkage in the engine compartment.