hey, my 78 300D has a 4-speed automatic transmission. what its doing is pulling out in 2nd gear and working up. if i really give it gas, itll drop down into 1st, then work up. im not too familiar with the old mercedes diesels, is this normal? im just assuming its suppossed to start off in 1st. what do you think?

hey nomad driver

I have a 78 300D automatic and it starts off on second gear when the stick is on D. If i floor it, say on a stop light, the transmission will kick down to 1st gear and work its way up. But other than that, thats how the car was supposed to be like. if your forcing down really hard on the gas pedal at a stop light to kick it down to 1st gear, then your kickdown solinoid is bad. You can feel it when you gas it down all the way, its a small button right under the gas pedal. Also if your spedometer is the original in the car, you will see these yellow dots between the kph and mph. those yellow dots represents the maximum mph for that particular gear your in. you should have one at 18, 24, 60, 90 MPH. Try getting a mechanic to fine tune your transmission to shift close to these points....it makes driving a 300D a litte bit more exciting.

muybweno, thanks alot man. i thought that it might be normal for it to take off in second, but wasnt sure. and i was wondering what those dots were for. now i know. yeah, its shifting way off the dots, ill have to get that checked out. you have much luck with your 300D? ive been debating whether or not to hang on to it. thanks again.

hey nomad

by the way, on the spedometer....dont have your mechanic adjust them past the respected dots because once you past it, its bye bye for your engine and possibly your transmission....keep it at the max, at least 4 or 5 mph under the yellow dots. If you mechanic cant do it, then you can always shift it maually using L,S, and D. If your going to do this, stick the tranny down to S at stop. You should rev high and the tranny should shift to 2nd when your stick is still on L. Once you reach around the second dot (30mph or so) shift to S and from there on around 47-52mph, shift to D. Thats how the tranny is supposed to work, and its fun drive the car like that. My tranny is messed up right now and i'm getting ticked off at my mechanic because he doesnt know what hes talking about. It keeps shifting to low on rpms when i stick it in D at a stop....something wrong with teh modulator and governor...dont really know. I'm really contemplating on selling the thing but it has sentimental value because its been in the family ever since it was bought...my dads the original owner. I kinda hate it because its kinda expensive to repair and its pretty slow and terribly lound when i try to sneak out of the house late at night...heheheheh .

Have fun driving your benzo

hey muybweno. the dots on my speedometer are quite a bit off from yours. they go 25, 40, 65, 93. but my transmission seems to follow them fairly close, so i guess i wont complain. get this - i was working a construction job and the homeowner gave me the car. said he was tired of looking at it and that it wasnt running right, so if i wanted it to take it. so i jumped on it. put about 600 into it and its runnin sweet. thinking about sellin it for some profit though, i dont know how much ill be able to depend on it, and the repairs seem to be a bit costly. but i do love it, though.
fried some wires tonight going a bit too fast in reverse. lost my lights, so tomorrow i get to search the dash. fun. anyway, thanks for your help, man. appreciate it.