Mercedes-Benz 300 SE 1993, Owner'S Manual

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S e le cto r Lever Positions
4 00 SEL, 500 SEL
The autom atic gear shifting
process can be adapted to
sp ecific operating conditions
using the selector lever.
P Parking lock.
The parking lock is an a d d itio n ­
al safeguard to the parking
brake w hen parking the vehicle.
Engage only w ith the car
stopped.
Note:
The key can be rem oved from
the steering lock only with the
selector lever in position ” P ” .
W ith the key rem oved, the
selector lever is locked in
position ” P ” .
R R everse gear.
S hift to reverse gear only with
the car stopped.
N N eutral.
No pow er is tran sm itted from
the engine to the rear axle.
W hen the brakes are released,
the ve hicle can be m oved freely
(pushed or tow ed). Do not e n ­
gage ” N ” w hile driving except
to coast w hen the ve hicle is in
d an ge r of skidding (e.g. on icy
roads, see W inter d riving
In structio ns in Index).
Im portant!
C oasting the vehicle, or driving
for any other reason with se­
lector lever in ” N ” can result in
tran sm issio n dam age that is not
covered by the M ercedes-B enz
Lim ited W arranty.
D The tran sm issio n a uto m a tica lly
upshifts to 4th gear. Position
” D ” provides optim um driving
ch a ra cte ristics under all norm al
o perating conditions.
3 U pshift to 3rd gear only.
Suitable for m oderately steep
hills.
2 U pshift to 2nd gear only. For
driving in m ountainous regions.
S ince the transm ission does
not shift hig he r than 2nd gear,
this gear selection w ill allow
use of the e n g in e ’s braking
pow er d ow nhill.
B In this position, the e n g in e ’s
braking effect is utilized by
shifting into 1st gear. Use this
position w hile desce nd in g very
steep or lengthy dow ngrades
and o nly at speeds below
40 m ph (60 k m /h ).
Im portant!
W ith selector lever in position “ D “
or “ 3 “ , upshifting from 2nd to 3rd
gear is delayed depending on
ve hicle speed and engine te m p er­
ature. This allow s the ca talytic
converter to heat up m ore q uickly
to operating tem peratures.
D uring the b rief w arm -up period
this delayed upshift and increased
eng in e noise m ight be perceived
as a m alfunction. H ow ever, neither
the engine nor tran sm issio n are
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