hello everyone
I am the new owner of an 82 sl, very,very clean and runs very smoothly, starts instantly hot or cold,no delayed maintenance that I am aware of and really justa great car, my question is is this car normally an underpowered performer? It cruises great,but even a small hill and I am forced to go down a gear,rpm at about 60mph is under 2000 in fourth, it doesent downshift automatically unless I go all the way into the downshift switch. Could this be a vacuum modulator issue? I have owned several diesel MBs and presently drive an 86 300e as my daily driver, that big four door sedan with over 200k will blow the doors off sl, this doesnt seem right,although I have heard the 380 motor is only rated at 150 hp. Any info shared will be gratefully acknowledged
Thanks

 

although under powered for a V8, it's supposed to put out 215 hp. so you could be right about the modulator or maybe the kickdown solenoid. check the wiring and hose first.

 

will do, let you know what I find thanks

 

Installed new O2 sensor,dist cap and rotor and plugs, adjusted bowden cable, found throttle linkage maladjusted, WHAT a difference, car performs and shifts normally, I am a happy man

 

Interesting that you installed new O2 sensor. The manual does not give a replacement timeframe and my mechanic taped over the O2 light in the dash. Why did you replace it?
Steve

 

Hi
I thought I read that the time frame for o2 sensor replacement was between 40& 50 k, but the truth is Iwas just shotgunning a whole tuneup to a car new to me, the 82 380 motor uses a single wire sensor and cost less than 20 $ at autohaus arizona, so it seemed like cheap maintenance, the timing was set at 5 degrees advance instead of 5 btdc that was a big performance improver, I think the manual tells you to remove the o2 dash light after it comes on as I know of no way to reset it, good luck

 

Thanks. I'm going to go ahead and replace it. I've got 44k miles on it and it's starting to feel sluggish.

 

In Europe the 380sl had 215 hp. North American cars had a little over 150 hp, I believe.