Should have titled this UPSHIFT delay!

My 1999 E430 (51,000 miles) stays in first or second gear for 10 minutes after starting on a cold morning (<48F), resulting in high revs and making highway speeds impossible.

This continues long after the engine has reached 95F and at speeds up to and higher than 31mph.

After it has fully warmed up, it shifts fine all day.

I just got the car, so I don't know how long it has had this problem.

I know there is supposed to be an upshift delay when cold, but this is excessive.

I have re-adapted the transmission and had the fluid level checked, but the problem remains.

Any ideas please?

 

stays in 1st or second that long and you keep driving it? can you manually shift it into 3rd gear and up? can you downshift it into 1st? is there a gear displayed in the intrument cluster telling you what gear your in? are you sure that your not pushing the shifter lever over and manually making it stay in 1st or 2nd?

 

Thanks chassis221.

I am not going to drive it any more except as required to resolve this issue.

I have tried moving the shifter from D to 4th and 3rd with no result. On the '99 E430 there is no cluster display of which gear you are in. I am sure the problem persists with the shifter in D.

I haven't tried downshifting to 1st.

Once it warms up it shifts fine all day.

 

Try placing the car in neutral while driving and rap up the throttle real quick, then place it back in drive. Mine does the same thing, and when I do that, it upshifts. If like mine (96 e-320) it stays in 2nd gear up to 32mph, and then it will shift up. Problem is that is 3000 rpm on a cold engine.
Not a cure but it works for me.

Aardvark

 

I will try it Aardvark. Thanks

 

Sir,
Your problem does not sound normal. It may hold the shifts for a very slight amount of time when cold but those shifts should occur all the way thru the gears. Slightly higher revs when cold are not abnormal. What is abnormal is excessive revs... over 3500-4500 RPMs... that does not sound normal to me at all. Search other threads as there are many discussions on this very subject. Good luck!

 

I agree Scudogg. It is not normal. It is a problem. There is lots of discussion, unfortunately no solution as yet.

 

One morning I shifted to neutral on the move. When I went back to D - no drive!

Then I noticed the D indicator light was not on either. I fiddled with the selector lever and when I managed to hold it in a position where the D light was on, hey presto the gear box functioned pefectly.

So, I reckon my problem is the selector position recognition switch is not sensing that the lever is in D. For me this happens when the car's interior temprature is cold (<50F). I don't think it has anything to do with the engine temperature.

Next step: remove and clean the switch. If that does not fix it, I will replace it:
210 545 13 32 http://www.oem-mercedes-benz-parts.com/searchitem.epc

Thanks all for your helpful suggestions.