seriously, sir, i posted a few weeks ago concerning the fact that the reverse gear lockout no longer functioned on my 83 240d. you provided the following response: leathermang
Senior Member

Registered: Sep 2001
Location: central Texas
Posts: 2408

The mechanism which is not engaging your lockout pin can probably be accessed by just removing the shifter boot...
I suggest you take that off... and use a penetrant, not WD40, to spray any springs and holes on the shaft of the shifter.... moving it up and down in the process... if that does not work,, report same back to us.... good luck....

did as you suggested. now have the faint smell of pb blaster(?) and a slick shifting transmission. only problem is that i now have a situation worse than before. i must be soooo very careful not to get reverse while hunting for first. my guess, i have broken something in the shift lockout mechanism. any help would be greatfully appreciated. thank you.

Have added DaBenz's description to put it near the picture.. for ease of reference..

"Lift #1 and #11 snaps under the spring stop (under #3). #11 pushes #12 against #10 to #27 (reverse lever) with your help. If you can't feel #1 "give" and then stay up as you move #1 sideways then #11 may be broken or the spring stop worn. If #1 doesn't spring back (sideways) then #12 may have come loose or #10 broken (which will not be fun). #13 gives you that mushy feeling. Personally, I think it's #11 or that spring stop as those are the "interlock" that won't allow you to access #27."-DaBenz

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this goes to the above numbered drawing..

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more...

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Can you feel either spring working? I think you need to take your console out to get to whatever this is ...when you do you may be able to do a regular alignment of the shift lever extension arms....

Does anyone else have any experience with this problem ?

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I had a problem like that on my old VW. It had bad shifter bushings so it was easy to get the car into reverse instead of 1st.

I never fixed it, I jsut knew what Reverse felt like on the shifter compared to 1st. (didn't go forward all the way, and was real close to my leg)

I know that doesn't help you really but the only other thing I could think of is that the thingie that requies you to pull up to get into Reverse is loose or broken. (looking at the diagram I'm not really sure what that would be without playing with the shifter in-car)

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thanks to everyone. and special thanks to you, leathermang. just to prove i did look under the shift boot want to make observation that my set up is slightly different. my backuo light switch is perpendiculiar not parall to the "shift shaft". my appreciation.

So, did you fix it ? What was the offending part ?

no sir. have not attempted anything. my guess a broken/sheared part. purchased the bugger this way. $1000 worth of someone's else's discard. 20k miles later i still haven't backed into anyone. but always a possibility. and will not let 'junior' use this truly magnificant auto because of the reverse condition. will print the schematic you supplied and tinker some. not obvious to me how the bugger works. i am not real smart but i can be tenacious. wish me luck. and thank you again.

I could not figure out by the diagram how it works either... but I expect that if you take it apart the problem will be obvious... like a broken or missing pin, broken spring... its not like taking apart a carb.... relatively few pieces here ... Let us know what happens, preferably with a picture ... so when it happens again we can just point someone to this thread....
Or, it does make a legit excuse not to let others drive your car...

janko,

I do not have a manual for the W123 shift lever mechanism, but I do have one for the W115 series. This unit is held together with a "C" type clip at the end opposite the cluster of shift levers that go through the floor boards. This clip maintains the position of some nested shift selector mechanism shafts. With this mechanism defeated or non-functional, it seems the interfacing between the forward and reverse gear selector lever features could be lost or altered. I would therefore look, using a flashlight and mirror, at the end of the mechanism away from the lever cluster. I hope this helps, Jim

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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Drawing from the front looking back?

Lift #1 and #11 snaps under the spring stop (under #3). #11 pushes #12 against #10 to #27 (reverse lever) with your help. If you can't feel #1 "give" and then stay up as you move #1 sideways then #11 may be broken or the spring stop worn. If #1 doesn't spring back (sideways) then #12 may have come loose or #10 broken (which will not be fun). #13 gives you that mushy feeling. Personally, I think it's #11 or that spring stop as those are the "interlock" that won't allow you to access #27.

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daBenz - 1970 220D

The idiots reversed the side from which you are looking at the mechanism between the two drawings... not proper drawing protocol...without indicating it...

I copied DaBenz's description into the line drawing post so it would be closer to it for ease of reference...

leathermang, I now think the top drawing is OK (has been a very long week) - the backup light switch is on the driver's side and your picture is from the back seat looking toward the dash? If you still have the boot off then you may want to shift into reverse and grease the right side of #14. Left side #11 grease looks nice.

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daBenz - 1970 220D

I thought I had posted the other drawing on that page.. it was from a front angle... and this is from the rear.... so I was complaining about something yall could not see... LOL