Mercedes-Benz 280 CE 1979, Owner'S Manual

Page: 40 / 83

Starting and Shifting Gears
Do not store any objects in the
driver’s footwell area because they
could become lodged under the
operator’s pedals thus rendering
these controls partially or totally
inoperative.
Test service brake after driving off.
Warm up the engine smoothly. Do
not place full load on the engine
until the operating temperature
has been reached.
Automatic Transmission
The automatic transmission facili­
tates and simplifies the handling of
the vehicle. The individual gears
are shifted automatically dependent
upon selector lever position,
vehicle speed and accelerator
position.
Hint
When parking the vehicle or if
working on the vehicle with the
engine running, depress parking
brake pedal and move selector
lever to position “ P” .
Starting
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 before moving off. The
vehicle may otherwise start creep­
ing when the selector lever is in
a driving position.
Accelerator position
Partial throttle = early upshifting =
normal acceleration
Full throttle = retarded upshifting
= maximum acceleration
Depressing the accelerator beyond
full throttle to kickdown position
means downshifting to the next
lower gear and thus maximum
acceleration. If you ease up on the
accelerator after having attained
the desired speed, the transmission
will shift up again.
Gearshifting is controlled by the
vehicle speed.
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