Use of the auto tranny...
 

I have a "new" 1989 300te...I find the car to be great as a touring auto, but a "dog" getting into traffic or away from a light. I tried this morning to put the car into "3" while merging, thus forcing it to stay in 3rd...nice...nice torque...BUT, it revs until I stop. Is this safe? what is considered "unsafe" as far as rpm's...can I just shift down for added power? I don't want to damage the tranny/ engine. What is the proper method of using the tranny to gain power ? (I will also post this under "performance").

The TE will start in 2nd gear with the shifter in D -- you must either floor the accelerator to force it to downshift into 1st or start off in some lower gear, then upshift to D once rolling. It's the nature of the beast, and they get bad enough milage as it is....

Leaving the shifter in 3 will keep the tranny from shifting into 4th, which you don't want (unless overloaded on a steed downgrade at low speeds, for instance). Take off in 3 to get the tranny to start in 1st if you want, but upshift back to D once rolling.

Peter

Hmm, if I may correct a little here:

The car always starts in 2nd but, can be made to start in 1st if:

While stationary, you shift into '2' then back to D.
You floor the throttle (but there's slight delay while it changes down).


I don't know what you mean Eliot when you say 'but it revs until I stop'.

You can drive in '3' for the extra power like you did, as long as you don't do over ~6000 rpms, or pass the three dots on the speedometer you'll find at around 85-90 mph which state you shouldn't drive faster than that speed in 3rd gear. Shift up to D once you don't need the extra power obviously - it's quieter and will wear slightly less.

So..
 

So, upon entering a merge...I am going fairly slow, I CAN put it into 3 for extra power...up until 6000rpms (or three dots)?
About the 1st gear thing...I rarely need power from a dead stop, it's always while in motion. In my standard shift car, I would downshift or remain in a lower gear. Why would I need 1st gear?

I'd have the throttle valve cable adjustment checked. It's possibly even detatched from the bellcrank it attaches to, seen this a few times already. It really makes the car "doggy" for lack of a better word. OH! Gutless, that's another one.

Gilly

You might want to force 1st gear for a quick getaway from traffic lights...



If you *have* to change down into '3' to get the car to accelerate when you merge, i.e. the car won't stay in 3rd (until at least 5000rpm) when your gas is to the floor then as Gilly says, you probably need some simple adjustment.

good luck

Russ