Am i damaging my gearbox w124

[lsearson]

hi

ive got a 300e-24v 1991, the car i feel is a bit sluggish, and when im driving along and want to pull away quickly i like to shift down into 2nd and then shift up to 3rd then when ive pushed 3rd hard enough i shift into D (drive).

I just want to know am i causing any damage by doing this

Thanx guys

 

[bundy]

probably not but why drive it like a manual? get the running sorted & drive an auto again.

 

[paulcallender]

No, your not damaging the car.

Obviously if you drive the car to its limits, rather than pottering along, you're going to wear components at a higher rate, for example, tyres. I can't see how it would cause damage in itself, though.

 

[andy_k]

just keep your foot nailed to the floor - that will stop the autobox from changing up until you hit the upper limit of it's revs

get the car to take off in first gear (rather than second) by switching the lever to second then back to drive whilst at standstill.

Quite frankly if a 24 valve 300E feels sluggish then it needs a good service

Andy

 

[stwat]

Does the kickdown switch not work?

Stu

 

[pascal]

Am I missing something here. Is this not an automatic gearbox, not tiptronic.

I was under the impression that that the 2nd & 3rd gears were for slowing the car down whilst descending a steep gradient (engine braking).

In any case, the car won't upshift at the ultimate time, you have to do it manually whilst in lower gears. I had a 12 valve, and yes they feel slow if you don't push them. But when you kickdown, and keep your foot there they are anything but slow. So the 24V is even faster.

The later 5sp autos do benifit from flicking to 4th just before you kickdown, (goes into 3rd quicker) especially with the lower powered engines.

 

[lsearson]

hi

thanx for the replys, yes the car is auto and not tiptronic, and i know i should sort out the sluggishness but been really tired up, meaning to get to george fraser soon. the kickdown switch does work but i feel changes gears to kickly wheather in e or s. but thanx guys for letting me know im not damaging my little baby

cheers

 

[Chazchuzzlewitt]

Adjust the Bowden cable to give shifts at higher revs. This should wake your car up nicely.

 

[paulcallender]

but i feel changes gears to kickly

Do you mean too quickly (at not enough RPMs) or with too strong a 'kick'. If its the latter, then this can be a symptom of too low/high, or poor condition, auto transmission fluid. Running your transmission with these faults will lead to premature failure.

 

[lsearson]

yes i mean too quickly (at not enough RPMs). i feel if it stays in gear a bit longer if will be a lot quicker

 

[pascal]

It should rev up to near the the top speed for each gear, as marked on you speedo dial, when you keep it in kickdown. 1 dot for 1st, 2 dots for 2nd, etc.

For your car, the marks are (starting at first) 42mph, 71mph, 110mph and 145mph.

You will see these dots on your speedo, and if you cannot get near them in the gears marked whilst keeping your foot to the floor, you have a faulty kickdown switch, or your car needs a good service.

BTW. The bit about Tipronic was a lame attempt at being funny.

Pascal