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  #1  
Old 09-14-2003, 04:05 AM
Boudreaux's Avatar
Mein Name ist Dieter.
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Pearland, TX
Posts: 174
Removing debris from gearshift slot.

Hi everybody. Great forum for information about maintaining these German masterpieces.

I recently purchased a '94 SL500 with 110K miles. This car was taken to Texas German ******** in Houston and is being serviced for necessary repairs. However, I have a few questions about some interior problems. Peering down into the gearshift channel slot, I see a few coins and paper clips that are laying at the bottom. They don't seem to affect the shifting of the gears but I would like to remove them before they cause a problem. I've searched the boards and found nothing about this topic. Also is there some sort of upgrade (i.e. leather cover, rolling blind cover) that could be installed to prevent this from happening again? If anybody could help, this would be great.

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'94 SL500 Tourmaline Green, 120K miles as of February 27, 2005.

http://home.earthlink.net/~boudreaux...ictures/17.jpg
Updated photo September 2004

Last edited by Boudreaux; 09-14-2003 at 10:36 AM.
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  #2  
Old 09-14-2003, 05:13 AM
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What works good for this is a medical tool. I'm not sure, I want to say it's called a hemostat? Looks like a long skinny needle nose pliers, usually with these "ratchet" pieces on the handles so they lock closed. Very handy thing to have in your toolbox. You can find them at swapmeets, usually big boxes of them are available, I think doctors can either buy real nice ones and keep disinfecting them in an autoclave, or buy cheap, single-use ones, them they save the old ones, clean them up and sell them to guys who bring them to swap-meets to sell. They're usually 1 or 2 bucks each, depending on size.

Gilly

Last edited by Gilly; 09-14-2003 at 05:27 AM.
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Old 09-14-2003, 05:26 AM
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It's kind of like this, but just a regular serrated straight tip. Maybe it's called a "clamp"

http://www.hamptonresearch.com/hrproducts/4670.html

Gilly
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Old 09-14-2003, 08:08 AM
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It's formally named, but never called, a hemostatic clamp; properly called a hemostat, often called a stat, and the usual version is never called a clamp as that refers to more specialized instruments. Actually, it's an entire large family of instruments, straight and with varying curve shapes, in widely ranging sizes. I've got them ranging from the usual 5- or 6-inch version to a 14-incher with a mild S-curve for gynecological work, and I'm just a family doc.
Seems to me that the advantage of the pro over the amateur is having the right tools to get something done, and that nothing tops the human body in posing challenges that stimulate constant development of better tools for reaching and manipulating things. Spend a few minutes with a medical instrument catalog some time; it's fascinating to see what's been done, and what subtle variations have been considered worthwhile.
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Old 09-14-2003, 10:39 AM
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Mein Name ist Dieter.
 
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Location: Pearland, TX
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Thanks guys/gals! A friend of mine is a medical equipment sales rep and this tool did the trick. He even suggested using a chopstick and a hot glue gun to get out those items that are beyond the reach of the "hemostat".

Thanks again.
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'94 SL500 Tourmaline Green, 120K miles as of February 27, 2005.

http://home.earthlink.net/~boudreaux...ictures/17.jpg
Updated photo September 2004
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  #6  
Old 09-14-2003, 03:45 PM
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Thanks Dr, I knew someone here would have some type of knowledge along these lines. The ones I bought I got up at the Oshkosh Fly-In (Airventure or whatever they decided to call it now ). They had old crates just filled with these things. There were also crates filled with these little dentist picks, like for cleaning teeth. I believe I heard that Dr's can buy cheaper "throw-away" single-use versions of these things, and that instead of tossing them, they clean them (and can't be reused) and sell them just for this purpose, selling them to mechanics and tinkerers. Does this sound true, or do you thing they are "factory rejects" or distressed merchandise or what?

If there are smaller items, or just dust/dirt in the shifter, you can also try getting access to compressed air and a blowgun after picking out the bigger stuff. It sure makes the interior seem alot nicer if the shifter slot is cleaned out.

Gilly
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  #7  
Old 09-17-2003, 10:33 AM
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I still have my hemostat from my "college" days...it served a very different purpose then!
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Old 09-17-2003, 10:41 AM
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In a car related question -- the window on my gear selector (that shows the PRND321) is dirty -- underneath -- making the selector look bad -- is there a way to clean this -- I am guessing that I would need to remove the wood console, but then does the black plate that holds the window come up so that it can be cleaned?

this is a 1986 560sl

thanks,
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  #9  
Old 09-17-2003, 12:12 PM
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You can get to it, but you have to take the cover off the gear selector. It's pretty easy. And yes, you have to take off the wood console piece first.

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