the patient in question, other than the owner, is an 84 300sd with approximately 205k miles. i have owned the thing for about 18 months and have probably travelled 1800 miles. i have no maintenance records. the problem: about a week ago i tried to get the transmission to downshift. the first stomp on the right pedal produced no downshift. a subsequent stomp resulted in the downshift. that be good. what was bad is that it would not upshift. came to a stop. started out again. the bugger would not shift up. put the selector in neutral, then returned it to drive. caught the next gear. but that was all. would not continue to upshift. rode the thing home in what i guess was second gear. did a search. to no avail. tranny fluid level is between the two marks when at operating temperature. fluid is not really red. but not brown either. could i have a vaccum problem? other vaccum items, i.e. doorlocks, work fine. would appreciate your help. thank you.

After two "romps" I'd say check for a stuck kickdown switch, top of accelerator pedal, under carpet. Disconnect wires if necessary.

Best Regards,
Jim

Your kickdown switch is stuck down. A cheap and easy repair. It's the black button that sticks up through the carpet below the pedal. As Jim H said, just disconnect it by pulling the plug and then pull the switch out of its socket in the floor. Shifting wil return to normal, except for the lost ability to kickdown a gear when flooring it. It takes a hard squeeze to disengage the plug and it is in a tight location. When I replaced mine, I _gently_ pried the clips open with a small screwdriver one at a time while pulling on the plug.

The good news is that it's a $15 part.

__________________
1985 300SD, 203,000 miles, dark blue

Lil Sarah says: "Poor old Grandma Blue Car...She's sad."

gentlemen, thank you. and i especially love the part about the cure costing but $15. boy am i lucky. time to buy a lottery ticket.