89 260E No Kickdown Beyond 100kms (Now Solved)
 

Did search archive to no avail. Adjusted bowden cable but no cure.

Car tranny will kickdown at speeds below 100km but not beyond. Car will accelerate but no kickdown. I know the 260 has a smaller tranny than the 3.0 but this is not normal!!

Need some input, please.

There is an electrical switch under the accelerator pedal giving a signal to the transmission to kick-down at full throttle.
Could be defective or the pedal does not go far enough to open the switch.
I once had the very same problem on my 260E and that was the cause.
Good luck
JackD

Open the passenger side door; with the ignition on floor the gas pedal, if the kick down solenoid electrical circuit is working you should hear the kick down solenoid click at the rear of your car. if there is no click then the possibly are: gas pedal out of adjustment and not contacting the switch, a faulty switch, a blow fuse, wiring problem, a bad kick down solenoid or hard o -rings on it . You can check the solenoid by applying 12V directly to it. If you hear a click then the problem could be working pressure or valve body. Make sure the Bowden cable it not to lose.

Thanks Jack and C32 for your reply. I will check the circuitry and switch. It however strange that it not responding only during full throttle.

Thanks!

Not the same car but the same problem. (My car is a 95 E300 Diesel). I do get kick-down below 100Km/Hr but not at speed above that. I don't think its the solenoid switch since it does work at lower speeds. I am therefore curious to see what you find out. Please post the results if you discover the problem.

Thanks

Phil

PS: Maybe that's how the car was designed and its not supposed o kick-down at speeds higher then 100Km/Hr, although I could have sworn that it did work before.

Problem solved:D

Phil, it was the accelerator pedal, in my case, that was loose and therefore cannot activate the kickdown switch located underneath the pedal.

You have the tighten the cable under the hood. Take out the air filter cover and turn the adjuster nut clockwise until the pedal can in fact click on the kickdown switch.

Good luck, and thanks again to Jackd and C32AMG!!
My car is now a rocket!

Cheers:p

Hi Joel,

Thanks for the up-date. I'll try the solution over the weekend.

I am still not clear however as to why the kick-down switch will work correctly at speeds below 100Km/Hr but not at speeds above that.

Thanks again

Phil

the kickdown switch, from what i have gathered from previous posts, is only activated when you press down your pedal to the floor. try doing that and you will see what i mean - with the engine off!!

in my case, the pedal fell short of hitting the switch. after adjustments to the cable, it worked.

hence, the "kickdown" as you and i knew is not the correct term as defined, but more like downshifts and upshifts of the tranny under normal driving conditions.

i'm no techie, these are just observations. i stand to be corrected.

cheers!!