'87 300 SDL - No Reverse, May Sell
 

Last night as I was backing out of a parking spot it felt like I just barely bumped into something. Nothing was there, I pulled forward, then put it in reverse again.

The stick "bumped" it into reverse gear, but when I hit the throttle nothing happened, it just sat there.

My friends piled out and pushed it back enough to get going forward. It shifed into Drive just fine and we went on our way.

This morning I took it to a recommended MB indy in San Diego. He sat in it, ran through the shifter range, checked the fluid and says, "Tranny rebuild, $3500, 1.5 weeks."

He said this failure mode is kinda common at 300,000 miles, with reverse failing. I asked if he thought it might make it 1500 miles back home to Idaho. He said they have a loaner with no reverse that has been going forward only for several years.

Can anyone comment and advise on this tranny problem?


So I'm considering selling the car, maybe while I'm in San Diego, which is a better market than home.

The body is straight, the interior is fair. The dash has 2 small cracks. I installed a new windshield last week. The paint or top seal coat is beat, to look right the car must be painted.

The engine runs strong, I drove from So. Idaho to Vegas, to Tucson, to San Diego in the last week, mostly at +80mph.

It has 297xxx miles. It would be a good restore project that runs well already.

Comments and advice are appreciated.

Reverse clutch band or other related component likely failed. I had a similar thing happen on mine around 281k....though it did not happen when using reverse. Happened after a 40 mile drive on the highway, heard a "swishing" noise....and reverse had become weak, but did not fail completely. I drive it another 400ish miles while reverse slowly died away and the forward shifting began to die and become erratic too. Never got stranded....swapped in a different trans, been fine since (over 25k so far).

I'd fix it or try to sell it to someone who will.

Here's the part I found in the pan (along with lots of clumped clutch powder) from my failed unit:

http://www.tglmarketinginc.com/mbfor...805091609a.jpg

If you can sell it in a good market then do it. Pretty sure you could replace the car with another for about what you could get for it. I keep my eyes on craigslist and the 126s are on there all the time. Sell it and move on....(unless you have put a ton of money into it)

You could shop around for a good used transmission. I put a used transmission in a 300D for about a grand. The mechanic that offered it to me knew the tranny and guaranteed that it would work. it was a risk but I drove the car for many trouble free miles after that. Here's a possibility for finding a used tranny:

http://www.tristarparts.com/search_used_mercedes_parts.htm

My used trans install cost me under $750, including the trans, a trip to Chicago to retrieve it, several new parts (including a new bowden cable), an engine hoist/crane, and some tools. If I had the cash at the time I would have had the old unit rebuilt, but around here thats about $1700....so far so good on the used unit....only had 161k on it when installed.

Try calling Sun Valley Mercedes Dismantlers in N. LA. They rebuild/install trannies and sell used parts. Great business to deal with. (No affiliation, just a satisfied customer.)

http://www.mercedesdismantlers.com/

(818) 768-0704

Their website says $1500 plus exchange plus labor for an 87 SDL (don't know what they would charge for labor, but you could call.) 2 yr warranty.

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into them in the morning.

Fix the Trans. you know what you got in the car now. why step off into the unknown. my .002 worth..

What other cars have the same transmission as the 1987 300 SDL?

I drove the car from San Diego to Reno and home to Twin Falls, Idaho. So long as I park it so it can pull straight through, all went well for those 1200 miles.

Maybe I should just keep it the way it is, with no reverse, lol.

I bought a tranny over the phone , its in Dallas. $400 plus $250 shipping. My mechanic said about $400 to install. So $1100 or so to fix the problem.

Peter Schmid A.K.A. MZF Bayer,Inc.
 

I think you'll be delighted with a "Better than New", original.
(rebuilt to ZF specs.)
Ask Wolfgang for a ReMan Quote.

The one I bought in Dallas has 170xxx miles on it. The car was totaled from behind. They also have the engine, if anyone is interested in that.

There is an 89 SE sitting in middle TN. Anyone know if the trans will work? Another post said they have the same gear ratio but......

Not sure if this applies to your transmission, but when I had my 240D, the same thing happened. Turned out to be the reverse band adjustment on the side of the tranny case. On my car, it was an adjustment screw with a lock nut. The nut had worked itself loose, and the adjustment screw had backed itself out to a point where I had no reverse. The mechanic simply adjusted the screw, and tightened down the lock nut, and my reverse was back to normal. Good luck....

It probably would work so long as its a 300SE and not a V8 as the starter opening has to be on the correct side. I believe it is on the drivers side on a 603....and on the M103....not sure on the V8's