Mercedes-Benz 300 SD-TURBO DIESEL 1983, Owner'S Manual

Page: 48 / 97

Starting and Shifting Gears
The automatic transmission facilitates
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 . ,
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.
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 creeping when the
selector lever is in a driving position.
Test the service brake shortly after
driving off.
Warm up the engine smoothly. Do not
place full load on the engine until the
operating temperature has been
reached.
Accelerator position
Partial throttle = early upshifting =
normal acceleration.
Full throttle = later 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.
Gear shifting is controlled by the
vehicle speed.
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