Enjoying getting acquainted with my new 240D manual. One thing I'm noticing is that the lateral distance between the positions of the shifter for R, 1st, and 3rd seems to be somewhat closer than I'm used to....such that I have to pay somewhat careful attention to what gear I'm going into. Other manuals I've had in the past (an 88 Accord, an 83 Sentra for example) had more spacing.

Is this by design? Something that can be adjusted? Not a big deal....just curious.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Check the rubber bushings of the shift rods under the car. For R you have to lift the shifter, does that not work with you?

New shifter bushings are really required for proper shifting. But in that shift control unit under the shifter, and it is attached to the floor of the car from the bottom with four screws, there is a whole line up of parts, and if they are worn out or broken, then shifting gets a bit iffy. Govert says you push down to find reverse. I know the "gate" to prevent an accidental entry to reverse is missing on mine, so I have to be cautious, but I am use to it. However it does not require a downward push, just a bit further to the left.
Here you can find a drawing of all the parts in that box.
http://mb.ilcats.ru/part/class/1/ccode/F/cat/68K/type/123/subtype/123/group/26

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Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

I said lift, not push.

To get into reverse, I don't have to do anything along the vertical axis; I just move it forward to the far left and it goes into reverse every time.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Allegedly (acc. to PO), the shifter bushings were replaced within the last several years.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

My 80 is to the left and lift up for reverse, I have 344,800K on the shifter.

With the 300K you show, maybe the parts in the shifter are worn. there is a rebuild kit for them.


Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

charmalu is right.

Mine did too, apparently a PO forced the shifter down instead of up and broke the lock out mechanism.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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83 SD

84 CD

How 'bout my question about the lateral distance? My best friend owned the exact same car and his recollection is that there wasn't much distance/spacing between the gears. So is this normal for the car? Or should there be more spacing? Again, any other standard I've ever driven (Honda, Toyota, VW) the the spacing has been such that there was really no possibility of shifting into the wrong gear.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Lateral distance being small does not matter if the gated interlock for reverse is functional in my opinion. Sounds like you should examine and fix it. The manufacturer would have no reason to be concerned with the physical space differance since the interlock gate or mechanisim is incorporated.

Personally I would like to see shorter throws myself. I imagine the manufacturer might have felt back then that the lost mechanical advantage was more signifigant.

That's a good thought....maybe if I simply get the reverse part fixed all will be well.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I'm guessing that when the PO told you he changed the bushings hes talking about the bushings on the shift rods. Those aren't the only bushings. If your shifter is not a tight shift you may need the bushings in the shifter assembly as well. The shifter assembly is different between the aluminum and iron transmissions. When I installed the 4 speed shifter in my SD I took it apart and it was pretty trashed inside. (rusty springs and rotten bushings) I had the iron 4 speed. I had problems finding the bushing for the shifter. Every place I looked only wanted to sell me the bushings on the rods. This may have changed in the last 2 years, so please look in the parts link above for the parts. But I had to get my bushings off ebay from over seas. I looked through my records and this is the kit I bought, although I didn't buy it through this website, so be ware. I remember one of the bushings not being quite right, but a razor blade made it work.

Auto Pro. M/T 4 Sp. Gear Shift Lever Bushing Mercedes W108 W109 W114 W115 W116 W123 200 230 240D 250 280CE 280S

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I reworked the same shifter assembly that was on my W115 220D. I agree with Barry about the reverse gate needing to work. The shift lever is spring loaded to the right. That way you pull the shifter to the left lightly against the spring untill it hits the reverse gate for 1st and 2nd, and let the spring push it away from you to the right lightly for 3rd and 4th. For reverse pull left to the 1+2 gate, lift and pull further to the left until it stops and shift forward (like 1 and 3) for reverse.

I think that when most people refer to the "bushings" they are talking about the linkage parts on the shift rods between the transmission and shifter under the car. There is a whole other set of bushings in the shifter, that bolts to the top of the transmission tunnel, that supports the shift lever you actually touch with your hand.

On my shifter, the main mount (#5 in the parts diagram) was FUBAR. The spring had worn through the side of the mount which released all spring loading of the shift lever. The original was cast pot metal or maybe aluminum, the replacement I got from MBUSA was cast nylon. All parts are available from MB so I would disassemble it and replace all the worn parts. For me it was about $100 or $125 in parts. Works perfect when all is good! Lift for reverse, to the left and up. It is not a short throw shifter for quick shifts however, in my opinion!

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1984 300CD (sold)
1973 220DPK 4 spd (died)
1978 350SL 4 spd gray market
2003 SLK32 AMG
1988 300CE (sold)
1997 E420 (Totaled)
1998 E320 Wagon