I have an CA edition 85 300D turbo which ran beautifully until I parked it the other night and then today tried to fix a leaking fuel line. After I replaced the line, I drove off and immediately could tell something was off when moving the shifter from park to drive and it felt loose, not tight like before! Thats when I heard a sound which is hard to describe except as a distant rattle or gurgling sound coming up through the shifter.

Reading that this car has a complicated vacuum system, I looked at the amplifier and noticed that the TRA rubber hose was disintegrating so I replaced it and any other vacuum lines I could see which were suspect (btw, I have been having intermittent issues with my center vents not always opening when cooling, so vacuum issues looked like they could be my problem). Well, no luck, the noise is still there and the shifter movement is still loose.

I was so sure that I had knocked off a vacuum line or disconnected something by accident when fixing the fuel line but now I'm at a loss. Anybody have any idea what I might be dealing with?

__________________
Ed "Don't Benz's just feel better..."

Current wives...
2000 ML430 Skyview "The Mel"
2000 CLK430 Cab "The Cab"
85 300D Turbo "The Diesel"

Past wives...
92 300E
85 190E

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to
avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond
this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to
interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
Bertrand Russell

The rod that connects the bottom of the shift lever and the transmission should have a bushing at each end. I suspect one or both bushings wore out and fell off. The bushings cost more to ship than purchase from Phil.

Sixto
87 300D

I just lost those bushings.... drives me nuts! I have to pull the shifter down a little bit while in D. If I don't it's really loud.

__________________
08 R320 CDI current

Past
95 E420
87 300D Turbo 5spd
90 300TE
83 300SD
85 300TD
92 400E
85 190D

Ashedd, did the shifter seem loose all of a sudden? It's strange that the car was fine and then it wasn't, but I'll look underneath for the linkage.

Any other ideas, I know you guys are a wealth of information, I've learned so many interesting things about this car from this forum. All help is welcome!

__________________
Ed "Don't Benz's just feel better..."

Current wives...
2000 ML430 Skyview "The Mel"
2000 CLK430 Cab "The Cab"
85 300D Turbo "The Diesel"

Past wives...
92 300E
85 190E

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to
avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond
this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to
interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
Bertrand Russell

yes. one day it was fine and another is was loose and making noise. I am also starting to have neutral safety switch issues. I had the car on the lift on Saturday and confirmed that I am missing the bushing at both ends of the linkage. The linkage also has a nice coat of rust on it

__________________
08 R320 CDI current

Past
95 E420
87 300D Turbo 5spd
90 300TE
83 300SD
85 300TD
92 400E
85 190D

Thanks Ashedd! I got under the car yesterday and sure enough there are no rubber gaskets at the ends of my shift linkage. I didn't have the proper jacket stand angle in my limited workspace so I didn't try starting the car to confirm the source of the rattle

I did take the time to inspect the flex disks, both looked good to me, no visible cracks so I don't know if I will need to do enough labor to warrant just going ahead and dropping new disks in. Yes I have read and agree that time is not my friend with these rubber components. One question, is the linkage only held in place by the retainer clip I saw. I can easily access the rear one but the forward one was in-between the case and the chassis well and looked hard to reach. Can someone advise me on what has to be R&R'd to get at the forward shift linkage arm?

__________________
Ed "Don't Benz's just feel better..."

Current wives...
2000 ML430 Skyview "The Mel"
2000 CLK430 Cab "The Cab"
85 300D Turbo "The Diesel"

Past wives...
92 300E
85 190E

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to
avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond
this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to
interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
Bertrand Russell

The rod has a circular opening at one end that slips over a pin at the bottom of the shift lever. Something like a fancy circlip holds the rod on the pin. Lift the open end of the clip and slide it off the pin then remove the rod. Press in new nylon bushing, set the rod back on the pin then slide on the clip. Lots of ways to press in the bushing - you can warm it to be more compliant, douse it in silicone lubricant (I'd stay away from petroleum lubricants), etc. Then press on the bushing with a socket that fits snugly over it with a larger socket on the other end of the rod as an anvil using a vice or c-clamp or whatever you have handy.

The forward end of the rod is a pin that slips into the selector lever on the transmission. A nut and bolt hold the lever on the transmission. Much easier to work on the lever off the car but make sure the lever engages the tab of the neutral start switch when you put it back on the transmission.

Sixto
87 300D

Check this out:

Replacing all shifter bushings on W126 - p.1

__________________
1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination

Thanks Danny, interesting link! When I searched for 300D shift rod bushing I of course missed that article. I hope that will be helpful to many more. I ordered my bushing from Phil as well as the tranny mount which I found looked shot. I hope that all this solves my problem

__________________
Ed "Don't Benz's just feel better..."

Current wives...
2000 ML430 Skyview "The Mel"
2000 CLK430 Cab "The Cab"
85 300D Turbo "The Diesel"

Past wives...
92 300E
85 190E

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to
avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond
this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to
interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
Bertrand Russell