I've got a few questions about the shifting in my '83 300SD...

1st to 2nd is pretty harsh under hard acceleration. I've read this is normal.

2nd to 3rd: under normal or easy acceleration, it seems to hold 2nd too long, but under hard acceleration, it seems to shift at the appropriate time.

3rd to 4th requires a substantial easing off of the accelerator to initiate the shift.

I would report the rpm'of the shift points, but the tach is not working.

Is any of this normal tranny behavior??? It seems to downshift fine between all gears when either moving or coming to a stop, and doesn't make any clunks or any other weird noises. Or is it something else, like a vaccum issue? As far as I know, the tranny has never been rebuilt.

I'm new to Benzes, and I picked up this one to tinker with and possibly do a WVO conversion.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

how is the fluid? clean and bright red? what about the amount of fluid? check the dip stick.
if those check out fine, I would check the vacuum lines and then modulator pressure. could be bad vacuum lines, could be a bad modulator. something else that could help is a spring kit.

the tach has an amplifier on the inside of the left ( driver's side ) fender, unscrew it, pull it apart and throw a cigarette butt between the case and the silicon part of the tach amp. that should take care of that.

Do a search on Bowden Cable adjustment. That should fix some of the issues. The others maybe vacuum related. Which plenty of it has been written before in the forum.

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