Hey all,

I'm new here, first post. I just bought a 1989 240 DL for my 16 y/o daughter. The car's in pretty good shape, runs very well and seems to have been taken care of.

There's just one glitch.

The transmission (auto) seems to shift way too soon into 2nd & 3rd gear. When you need it to down-shift, as in a passing situation, it won't, even with the accelerator fully depressed. You can manually select 2nd in those situations and it will down shift from 3rd with no problem.

I'm thinking that there is a cable or some other linkage connected to the throttle that controls down-shifts, or maybe it's vacuum operated. What ever the case, it ain't working and I'm hoping that someone here might be able to point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance!

 

Look at the kick down cable located by the throttle cable under the hood.The cable should be tight but not to tight or to loose.

Pull on the cable and make sure you can feel it moving.Sometimes they sieze up and need replacing.

 

Thanks Tech.

I looked at the throttle assembly and, sure enough, the kick-down cable was not connected! Hooked it back up, test drive, and all is well!

Appreciate the advice.

Now, can you help me with the tail lights?

 

Whats wrong with the taillights?

 

I'm sure it must be a common problems with this model.

The bulb failure light on the dash is lit.

I check out the lights and at the rear, I've got a burned out back-up light and the left brake light is acting funky. I open the trunk, locate the taillight access panels and remove them. I check out the offending brake light and the bulb receptacle is seated rather loosely in the opening. I easily pull it out and discover that the bulb is too large to pull out through that same hole! I'm thinking at this point that I shouldn't pull the receptacle away from it's mount. I checked other receptacles and they all seemed to be solidly mounted, maybe even soldered to that printed circuit sheet that carries the juice to the bulbs.

My questions are:

How do you replace a bulb?
Are the receptacles supposed to be permanently attached to the printed circuit material?
If one has come detached, how do you reattach it?

 

They are not supposed to be soldered to the circuit board.If the bulb won't come out then the taillight might have melted some not allowing the bulb to come out.The sockets push in and then turn to lock.

You might have to break the bulb to get it out and then modify the hole a little to get it back it.
Try to replace the bulbs in pairs.Or the bulb failure light might stay on.

 

I'll take a closer look at the problem today. Thanks again for your expert advice!