Well......three for three, bushings completely shot

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Doncha just love simple solutions ? .

I hope you're going to clean all those filthy parts Hospital clean before greasing and re installing them .

Good work!

I need to do all that with the shifter and rods in my Studebaker truck.

? Column shift ? .

Remember to block the lever *exactly* in neutral then adjust the shift rods so they slip into the tranny shift arms *perfectly* then use super thin flat washers to shim them so they're easy to move fore & aft but not floppy .

You'll love the improvement and your truck's tranny will thank you .

Well - got the shifter body back together after about three hours of fiddling with the damned spring washers annnddddd upon throwing out the old bushings, noticed that UNDER THE DAMNED GREASE in the tophat bushing, there is a WASHER that serves to save the back end of the damned tophat from blowing out. When you see people with a blown out tophat, they prob forgot that damn washer - where the tophat brim pops off, that’s normal. Screw it, thinking I might fabricate a safety plate so the tophat can’t get blown out because getting those washers right again might kill me.

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Not a column shift!

Blick.

W123 4-speed shifter assembly
 

Yup, no damn way I’m taking this all back apart for that washer. I could see how you could bend a light sheet metal bracket over the end of that tophat and then run it around the sides so you end up putting the two (of four) driver’s side 10mm screws that hold the shifter down through the sheet metal.

It’s actually not a bad idea given the rim of the tophat does its own job holding the shift arms in place and the cap does its own job of holding the spring in. So even if the cap separates from the rim (super common), it’ll still be doing its job and much better so than if just relying on the driver’s side dash board to hold it on like most people. And even if the spring punched through the tophat, the sheet would be enough to largely keep it in place.

Hell, maybe even something I can convince Ken to make and sell......


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W123 4-speed shifter assembly
 

Also entertaining the idea of using JB Plastic weld, scoring the outside of that semi circle bump the tophat goes into and just permanently welding that plastic into place. Thoughts?

I guess it would be prudent to just leave it as is for now and wait until that spring busts through and then attempt a fix.....who knows, maybe the spring won’t bust through for many years....

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W123 4-speed shifter assembly
 

Shifter reinstalled......shifts completely differently! Reverse used to be WAY further left, and there was just generally a lot more movement. Now it is quite tight and very clear that the weird tight shift I’d sometimes get into first was just the shifter slightly missing the gate and then pushing through. This pic and the description from our buddy helped as well:

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https://**************.com/problems/transmission/manual-transmission-shift-linkage-binding


Now onto some power steering and fuel filter work....


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Hi Nate,

I'm planning on doing this same job on my '83 240D. I'm wondering if you could provide more information on cleaning and greasing the parts? Would I just use brake fluid to clean them? What type of grease do I apply and how much?

Brake cleaner, not fluid I imagine.

Having done this I recommend taking it all apart and getting the washer in were it belongs. I know the feeling of being committed and once past the goal line not wanting to go back again, but second time through will take no time at all when compared to starting all over again not knowing the way.

Good luck!

Tom

Linkage Service / Repair
 

I'd begin by cleaning it all well before taking anything apart, I use the purple degreaser suggested by Rich some time ago, it's very gentle to paint and rubber/plastic parts .

Certainly NO BRAKE CLEANER .

Consider trying the dilute DAWN dish soap in a spray bottle, I dilute the purple stuff three parts water to one part purple cleaner, SAMS CLUB employees typically have no knowledge of this product even when I bring in the empty jug with stock number on it...

It's in the office supply section of the SAMS near S.W.M.B.O.'s house .

Spray bottles from the .99 cents only store ~ I bought some nifty looking ones from COSTCO and discovered they're _worthless_ for anything containing soap ~ the top falls right off the filled bottle, no way to make it stay in place, money wasted .

Try to have all the parts in hand when you begin and print out at least two copies of that image, one to take under the car and scribble notes on and get filthy & oily, "cheat sheets" are a wonderus thing but only if you remember to make them first .

The bushings proper are nylon and so don't require lubrication, if you insist, use aerosol silicone .

Take and share some pictures before, during and after , we like to see how and it was before cleaning and touching .

Got tired of the long shift gate, way forward,way back.
Added 1" to lower shift arms,now a 4-5 inch gate. Loved it.

How did you add an inch? Did you cut them and weld an extra inch of material in?