omalley

Hi.... New Here.

I have a 1986 SDL,no mechanical or little knowledge of such and no close access to a mercedes mechanic. My car has a loud clunk from the front end when driving slow and shifting from first to second. Not all the time though, and it seems that if I give it more throttle the transmission shifts smoothly throught all the gears. The noise is also present especially going down hill slowly when the trans shifts from 2nd to low. Has anyone else out there had similar problems or have any idea what the problem might be. Is this the transmission or possibly some other problem or just some common problem with the SDL. Vehicle has 200,000 miles.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

C43AMG

When was the last time you had the tranny serviced ? I would recommend getting it "flushed" and then see how it performs.

omalley

Thanks C43AMG.I'll give that a try first . I took it to a local trans place and the dealer said he wouldn't want to work on Mercedes. He did give it a test drive with me along for the ride and felt it was not the transmission itself. but did ask me if it always shifted that early. Said that there were lots of vaccum issues associated with diesel mercedes and felt that perhaps there might be too much vaccum ???? As stated I know absolutely nothing about automobiles but have read others comments on theis thread and feel I might have a similar problem as they have experienced.

About all I can do at this point is keep asking around and try and learn more about the transmission and vaccum. I do suspect that this may infact be the problem. Will change oil and order in a modulator valve just for the heck of it as it may be a cheap fix.

I'll keep checking this site in case any other ideas come up.

One thing I did notice is that when you pour the diesel to her, she goes thru the gears without hesitation on a flat surface,but when I go uphill, it's very sluggish. By uphill, I mean up a mountain.as I live in a mountainous region.

Thanks for any suggestions

C43AMG

That would lead me to believe that the tranny filter is partially clogged.Again , trying getting it "flushed" and post what the results are.Good luck.

Tmax

Could be the Drive Shaft Flex Joint or Driveshaft Support or bearing?

I would first look at the Drive Shaft Flex Joint, than the Driveshaft Support and bearing!

Hattaresguy

Its a vacuum issue, probably either to much vacuum from the amp or something is up with the modulator on the trans or IP. See Mercedesshop.com for severel recent threads on this subject.