New automatic shifter knob install... Now gears offset back and won't line up?? W123
 

So I installed a new wood grain auto shift knob in my 1979 300d. Now the gears won't line up with there corresponding letters (P, R, D, S, L)

it is now offset towards the rear of the car about 3/4 of an inch. So park engages 3/4 of an inch back from the front of the "gear selector" (idk what the proper name of it is) and all the gears below Park engage 3/4 of an inch off from where they should.

Which also makes it so it cannot engage into L at all because it hits the very back of the "gear selector" and can't go any farther to engage into L.


Has this ever happened to anyone ? Anyone have a quick idea of what went wrong?

So did I break a bushing or something in the process of removing the original shifter knob by being a little to rough?

BTW I know how to adjust the bar that is under the car that connects the bottom end of the shifter. So u know how to adjust the shift knob forward 3/4 of an inch in order to get all the gears lined up with their corresponding letters on the gear selector. But I'm just extremely confused as to how me just replacing the shifter could have loosened the lock nut under the car and pulled that bar backward 3/4 of an inch.

So I just wanna know how this happened and what I need to look for to fix it.

Retrace your steps and cover what it was you replaced and everything you touched in the process. It's possible you got something put back in the wrong spot, or the new shifter mechanism you installed is slightly different than what you pulled out. If you were really wrenching on something, it's possible you bent something.

This happened when I installed a new shifter in a friend's car. I put the car in park and bent the shifter forward until it was in the correct position. Worked. You should take off the gated cover when you do this.

If you damaged the bushings or linkage it should be obvious with a lot more play and slop in the action of the shifter.

There doesn't seem to be much slop it all seems good just off set. So ya I'm thinking my dumbass might have bent that little connrcting piece under the car. Because I was trying to turn the lock nut the wrong way at first so I could have wrenched too hard .

Damn I also try to rush and do something stupid, but I always learn something "not to do" the next time haha.

Well I'll check it out and update this thread in case someone else runs into this problem in the future

If the whole selector lever (knob plus shaft) was unscrewed from the fork in the selector mechanism (under the rubber boot), it could be observed that the shaft has an offset/dogleg. That dogleg, when the shaft is installed correctly, goes forward. If reversed, with the dogleg to the rear, the shaft will hit the gate at the back, and fail to align with the "P" position at the front.

It's probably just the shifter rod. If you haven't already, remove it and put it on top of the old one to compare the contours before doing anything else. If it's off it will affect how it sits in the gate.

Edit: just saw Frank's post. Didn't consider that you screwed the rod into the existing fork. Yes, it's important that it's situated exact same as the original was.

Ya that's what it is guys... They installed the wood knob backwards on the rod, if flip it around so it's backwards all the gears line up right.

The worst part about it is it's the PelicanParts knob.