My first post to this forum. I currently own a 1984 300td wagon 4speed with somewhere around 420,000 miles. I found a 1995 E320 wagon for sale locally. The owner says the reverse is out and will need a transmission replaced. Was told by someone else that it is only a vacum issue as all forward gears work great. I drove the car, typical solid mercedes feel, has 195,000 miles on it, appears reasonably clean, minor exhaust leak, no evidence of any fluids leaking, a/c climate control system works except for cooling, exterior looks great, no rust spots. anyways, back to the transmission issue. Can anyone tell me first, what transmission is in this vehicle, how reliable are they and could it be a vacum problem that is making reverse not work. Any information about that anything else related to the 1995 E320 wagon would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Douglas C Gruesbeck

 

I recently bought a 240D with no reverse, and it turned out to just be a loose nut that controls the reverse band (located on the passenger side of the transmissino). This had an automatic transmission, and you didn't say what type the newer car is.

 

I believe it is a W124 body car. Has the newer style body side molding.

 

I was referring to the type of transmission, which i assumed to be automatic. However i was not sure. It was important because the fix I described would only work on an automatic; as the manual doesn't have a reverse band to become loose and cause reverse to go out.

 

The transmission is definitely an automatic and each forward gear shifts smoothly and on time, no signs of slipping or hesitation. It feels like it wants to go backwards a little bit but not enough to actually go reverse. had days like that myself a few times. the cure I was told could be a vacum leak, I don't know much about the auto transmission in this vehicle so thought I would ask the experts on this forum.

Douglas C Gruesbeck

 

Well with the conditions given, it could even just be a loose nut on the Reverse Band (some quick google searches will yield much information on this and where it is exactly). In my case this is what the issue was, and now reverse works perfectly for me.