You ought not to bust Gilly's chops for trying to help you convey your message.

There is obviously no time that a single cam MB v8 should be doing 6000rpm. So... a very pertinent question is.... how fast is the engine idling when it harshly engages D or R? That is how fast is it idling in "N"?

GILLY: Yes i can do that.Question: Is there a universel type juint between both drive shafts? And if so i asume there should be no play at this point.

GILLY: I just went under the car and with one hand on the front drive shaft and the other hand on the rear twisting in opposite directions, there is no play in the middle joint.Also if i just twist the front i get approx 1/2" play and the same for the rear.For some reason now they are both the same.

Yes, there is a U-joint in the middle. There is also a rubber-mounted support bearing in the middle also. Try moving the shft up and down and see if there is any play in the lateral direction also, the rubber mount can wear out and make noises as well. I am not familiar with the TV cable misadjustment causing a clunk when put into gear. It MAY be the cause, I've never heard of it before though. Usually a maladjusted TV cable will cause complaints of either early shifts or late shifts. The bowden cable (TV cable, meaning throttle valve cable) should have just a slight amount of free play to it. Not extremely loose, and not pulling on the cable at all. MB does allow a certain amount of adjustment to be performed outside of this parameter to tailor the shift point to the owners desire however. But if it were "way" out of adjustment I would think your shift point complaint would exceed your problem with the clunk, so in general I would think of other solutions.

When Steve was coaching you on adjusting the vacuum modulator, were you trying to make the shift harder or softer? Any chance it's adjusted a little too hard now?

Gilly

The trans was shifting hard in all gears,so i took his advise and turned the T bar in the modulator approx. 21/2 turnes counter clockwise and it shifts much smother now,but it did nothing to the N to D PROBLEM.

Yes, my cable was GROSSLY misadjusted by the previous owner. The result was abrupt/harsh shifts in all gears. When engaging into "D" from "N", it would pause for a second, then "clunk" into gear. Once I made the adjustment (actually, lots of adjustments before I got it exactly right), the shifts into all gears smoothed out. And the the "N" to "D" shift happens almost immediately -- and with no "clunk".
Gilly and Steve: You guys are the resident experts. I am by no means second-guessing your diagnosis. I'm just adding my personal experiences.

(FYI 420 benz: I e-mailed you the info I mentioned above)

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Jeff Pierce

Jeff:
Just the contrary, always welcome to ideas. If you experienced a problem like this before and adjusting you throttle valve cable repaired it, then that's good information, it certainly would be something easy to check.

Gilly

MANY THANKS Gilly,Steve, and Jeff. Iwill try all of your suggestions and let you know.

420 benz:

I experience a problem sending you that file. I've re-sent it. You should be all set.

jp

JEFF: Thanks for the info, i will adjust cable tomorrow.