Kickdown switch

[Douglas]

Last night I pressed down on the kickdown switch while driving at highway speeds and the car gladly downshifted, much to my surprise. Does the kickdown switch always engage a lower gear regardless of your speed? I just replaced mine, so I'm wondering what its "normal" state should be.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[bpossel]

I've had mine kick down at speeds under 30, but recently I decided to run a "yellow/orange" light...  was going about 50ish...  surprisingly, the car kicked down and it soared to 70ish very quickly!  So, my kickdown seems to work whenever I press the pedal to the metal...
Bob

bpossel
Memphis, TN.
1971 280SL
1997 E320

[J. Huber]

Hey Douglas,

Yours seems normal. My kickdown switch is way way down there, so I rarely ever get to it in normal driving. In fact, thought it was inop for years since I never floored the pedal. But I investigated and it works. In my case, upon flooring the pedal, it kicks down fine but does so at very high revs. Kind of scares me as I am not the high RPM type.

James
63 230SL

[Cees Klumper]

I don't think it will work if you are already in the 5,000+ RPM range or thereabouts. I believe I have tried.

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[68_white]

Your auto transmission will down shift when the kickdown switch is activated as long as the vehicle speed is not over 60 mph.

HARRY

68_WHITE