Shifter bushings question 300D

[RML]

One day a few weeks ago I found that the transmission shifter in my 85 300D was suddenly loose and I had to play a bit to get it to find drive and reverse. It was not like this the day before. Is this likely caused by one or more shifter bushings which have gone bad? Do they crack and come loose suddenly like that? If this is the problem, will it stay like this or will I find it gets worse and I am likely to get stuck somewhere, not being able to get into gear?

[Diseasel300]

Sure sounds like shifter bushings to me. Very likely the ones under the car. My SDL was like this, VERY sloppy shifter, you had to sort of guess where it was. The bushings are plastic (some sort of nylon) and when they age they crystalize and break off.

[RML]

Are the ones under the car easy to see after I jack up the car and put it on stands? I am guessing they are on the side on not the top. I hope.

[Diseasel300]

They're on the side of the transmission. You'll see a bar coming from the shifter to the crank on the side of the transmission (driver's side). There's a plastic bushing at each end. There are tools made for installing the bushings, or you can get creative with a bolt, a couple washers, and a socket. I did the latter, but it depends on how much room you have to work with in there. The 126 had plenty of room to get in there. Not sure about the 123.

[RML]

Mercedes-Benz W123 Shifter Bushing Replacement | W123 (1977-1985) | Pelican Parts DIY Maintenance Article

I just found the DIY write-up here on the forum. This will be a project for next week.

Thanks for the confirmation and help.

[Diesel911]

The outside shifter bushings on mine were entirly gone.

But, also one of the inside shifter bushings had the flange that broke off. In the picture with the broken flange one of the insid bushings slide inwards, see pic.

[gonesurfing]

Literally just did this today on my 300cd. I have the console out for rust work and so it was easy to remove the shift lever. Also took the detent lever off the trans so i could easily push the bushing in with a bench vise and soapy water.

[dieselmania]

The ones on my 124 are gone too. I have a leak at the selector shaft and the NSS is not working in park so when I have time I plan to just remove the tranny for a reseal and do the bushings and NSS at the same time.

[ykobayashi]

If you do take the detent lever off the transmission make sure to locate the little pin on the neutral safety switch back into the hole on the lever. Failure to do so may lead to a destroyed NSS. I did this and it turned a simple bushing replacement into an NSS swap.

The good thing about pulling the lever is you get to press the busing on the bench in a vise or c clamp.

[RML]

There are two types of bushings shown in the parts section. One has a flange on one side and is called a Gear Shift Bushing - Floor Shifter. Will I need two of these when opening up the linkage from the cabin?

The other bushing is called just a Gear Shift Bushing. It has a double flange in the center. Is this the bushing which goes on the tranny linkage from below? And one is needed?

[jay_bob]

Pro tip: dunk the bushing in boiling water for 30 seconds, this gets them much more flexible.

[Diseasel300]

The "double flange" goes under the car. You need 2 pieces. The single flange style goes inside the car on the shifter handle. Start with the ones under the car, they're likely the ones that have gone missing.

[Junkman]

I got away with only doing the 2 by the shifter and 1 of the lower bushings on my 84SD. There is a little slop and I'll replace the last bushing when I have the car in the air. Those that I could do from the top made it good enough that it appears to work as normal.


Fleabay has genuine Mercedes bushings and one of the vendors is more local to me otherwise, Peach had them as inexpensively as any. I don't know the quality of the aftermarket bushings but the price wasn't enough to sway me to find out.

[RML]

Originally Posted by jay_bob

Pro tip: dunk the bushing in boiling water for 30 seconds, this gets them much more flexible.

Brilliant! Thanks!!

[RML]

Originally Posted by Diseasel300

The "double flange" goes under the car. You need 2 pieces. The single flange style goes inside the car on the shifter handle. Start with the ones under the car, they're likely the ones that have gone missing.

I think I will order all of them, assuming I will need to replace them now or later. I was hoping it is the ones I can get to from the cabin. I guess I will find out.