Mercedes-Benz 1984 300SD, Owner'S Manual

Page: 52 / 101

Starting and Shifting Gears
The autom atic transm ission simplifies
the handling of the vehicle. The
individual gears are shifted autom ati­
cally dependent upon selector lever
position, vehicle speed and accelera­
to r position.
Hints
When parking the vehicle or if w orking
on the vehicle w ith the engine
running, depress parking brake pedal
and move selector lever to position
“p„
W arning:
Keep driver’s fo o t area clear at all
times. O bjects stored in this area may
cause im pairm ent of pedal m ove­
ment.
Driving
Shift selector lever to the desired
driving position only when the engine
is idling and the service brake is
applied. Do not release the brake until
ready to drive. The vehicle may
otherwise start creeping when the
s e le cto r lever is in a driving position.
Test the service brake shortly after
driving off.
Warm up the engine sm oothly. Do not
place full load on the engine until the
operating tem perature has been
reached.
When taking off on a slippery surface,
do not allow one driving wheel to spin
fo r an extended period.
A ccelerator position
Partial th ro ttle = early upshifting =
normal acceleration.
Full th ro ttle = later upshifting =
maximum acceleration.
Depressing the accelerator beyond
full th ro ttle to kickdow n position
means dow nshifting to the next lower
gear and thus maximum acceleration.
If you ease up on the accelerator after
having attained the desired speed,
the transm ission will sh ift up again.
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