W124 4 speed Auto box kick down

[Donbronski]

Hi.

Is it normal for the box to kick down at half throttle?

When driving in "E" at low speeds on a flat road with the throttle bearly open I'm sure I'm pretty much always in 4th. Then when i open it up a little to half throttle It'll drop to 3rd, full throttle 2nd. Also from a stand still i can achive 1st.

When driving in "S" it is almost identical but i have it seems more throttle in each gear, if that makes sense? basically It wont drop a gear unless i near on floor it.

I feel that my Kick down button is obsolete its there but I'm dropping gear way before reaching it.

I must add that this is my first Mercedes & this all could be normal but i just don't know it.


Thanks in advance

 

[Roger Jones]

Reads like the opposite of my experience in two W124s. With the E (economy) showing, I have to floor the throttle to get kick-down, and it is slow to respond. With the S (standard) showing, the process is much quicker. I say "showing" because there is a possibility that you may think you are in E when the switch covers the letter E, whereas you are actually in E when the letter E is visible. From the handbook:

" Program selector switch
S - Standard (Push switch forward - S becomes visible) . . . the vehicle will start off in 2nd gear when accelerating gently. The vehicle will set off in 1st gear when accelerating briskly.
E- Economy (Push switch to the rear - E becomes visible) . . . the vehicle will start off in 2nd gear even with full throttle. And even with high throttle, changes up and down will take place at driving speeds and engine speeds lower than in position S.
Notes: The E program affords an even smoother, more comfortable and fuel-saving way of driving and facilitates driving on slippery roads during the cold season. As long as kickdown is applied the E program is cancelled automatically."

 

[kbekl]

mines the same as above in e wont kick down unless i put foot to floor and in s it is when i apply pressure to the throttle it changes down

 

[Stratman]

Welcome to the forums. The behaviour of your gearbox sounds perfectly normal. What you are experiencing when you go from a light to half throttle isn't kickdown, just normal use of the gears. Kickdown is activated by a switch under the accelerator pedal. You can feel it if you press the pedal all the way to the floor (engine off!) and then press a little more.

The E and S behaviour is normal as well. E(conomy) mode pulls away in second and changes up as early as possible. S(port) pulls away in first and holds the gears a bit longer.

 

[Olivier]

Reads like the opposite of my experience in two W124s. With the E (economy) showing, I have to floor the throttle to get kick-down, and it is slow to respond. With the S (standard) showing, the process is much quicker. I say "showing" because there is a possibility that you may think you are in E when the switch covers the letter E, whereas you are actually in E when the letter E is visible. From the handbook:

" Program selector switch
S - Standard (Push switch forward - S becomes visible) . . . the vehicle will start off in 2nd gear when accelerating gently. The vehicle will set off in 1st gear when accelerating briskly.
E- Economy (Push switch to the rear - E becomes visible) . . . the vehicle will start off in 2nd gear even with full throttle. And even with high throttle, changes up and down will take place at driving speeds and engine speeds lower than in position S.
Notes: The E program affords an even smoother, more comfortable and fuel-saving way of driving and facilitates driving on slippery roads during the cold season. As long as kickdown is applied the E program is cancelled automatically."

I got S and W, summer and winter, and some did a test and apparently on W you are loosing on economy as the car need to pull more torque on second? Will that be correct?

 

[bolide]

Adjust the kickdown cable to get kickdown at the point you like. I recommend that 60-70% throttle activates kickdown

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Donbronski]

Coud my switch be round the wrong way maybe?

 

[grober]

Coud my switch be round the wrong way maybe?

double post sorry

 

[grober]

Coud my switch be round the wrong way maybe?

Check post #2 and your owners handbook. 2 things moderate changes on the 4 speed box the engine vacuum and the throttle position via the throttle linkage and the kickdown cable as has been said. The adjustment of the kickdown cable linkage has to be right for smooth changes to take place. Check also that your vacuum lines/actuator are OK and not leaking.
Olivier- using the higher gears + the torque converter and changing up quicker at lower revs is more economic than using 1rst gear and holding on to the gears for longer before changing up (S) Whoever your "test guys" are their tests are inaccurate. The argument of using more torque is cancelled by the increased revs and torque converter slippage of the more dynamic setting I would think?

 

[Roger Jones]

"S(port)"

It's "S(tandard)" according to MB.

 

[Dieselman]

Coud my switch be round the wrong way maybe?

From your description it sounds like it might be. The gearbox should be spritlier in S then in E mode.

The throttle pressure cable sets the change point, the vacuum only affects shift smoothness so unless you have harsh or slurred shifts, forget it.

Pull the shift cable off the accelerator linkage and set it so when the accelerator is at rest the cable ferrule is just over the connection peg.

 

[Donbronski]

Check post #2 and your owners handbook. 2 things moderate changes on the 4 speed box the engine vacuum and the throttle position via the throttle linkage and the kickdown cable as has been said. The adjustment of the kickdown cable linkage has to be right for smooth changes to take place. Check also that your vacuum lines/actuator are OK and not leaking.
Olivier- using the higher gears + the torque converter and changing up quicker at lower revs is more economic than using 1rst gear and holding on to the gears for longer before changing up (S) Whoever your "test guys" are their tests are inaccurate. The argument of using more torque is cancelled by the increased revs and torque converter slippage of the more dynamic setting I would think?

This what you have mentioned here kind of explains the behaviour of my box. It makes sense that dropping to a lower gear earlier is more economical than adding more fuel to push a higher gear. This also explains why i can achive 1st on occasion in E mode but not S mode.