My 83 240D 4 speed auto does some strange shifting when its in D and even in S mode. I tends to upshift to early or skip right past the gear that it should be in ie. 1st straight to 3rd then 4th or 1st to 2nd then straight to 4th. The other symptom is if im at a cruise speed of 50kms/30mphI litterally have tofloorthe pedal to get it to kick into passing gear and somtimes it wont do that and I have to manually shift it into S to get 3rd gear for passing.

Now from a stopif I floor it thetrans will shift exactly the way its supposed toso I know its not worn clutches or bands. Being a domesticsauto tech anytime I have ever seen that particular problem its beenin the throttle linkage and I dont see a linkage on thisold diesel so what should I be looking for?

 

When is the last time you changed your transmission fluid and pan filter? Sounds like it might be time. You may wish to check the vacuum lines to the modulator to ensure there are no leaks since normal shifting is directly related to proper operation of the modulator. It is a cheap and easy part to replace and you may wish to put in a new one if you are changing your fluid and filter.

There is also an electric detent switch that is actuated by the accelerator pedal under full acceleration (pedal to the floor). Check out this system as well for a possible negative effect concerning engagement of the passing gear.

 

Ive only owned the car for about a week and its only been driven around on my repairman plate. So to answer the question no I dont know when the filter kit was last done. What I can tell you is that I was under it on my hoist is that it looks like a reman trani judging by the look of it I would say about a year or 2 also the fluid still looks pretty clean.

I did how ever see that switch behind the pedal there was carpet bunched up around it so I trimmed it with a razor blade but that only solved my WOT shift problem. I will look into the modulator when I get the chance.