Interior Lights!

[Tom McMenamin]

Since I bought my 560SL last August, I can not be sure if the shift lever on the console was ever illuminated?

You know the part that defines Park, Neutral Drive etc.

Should that portion have lights and if so how would you troubleshoot that?

[ericdee]

Tom,


Yes the light on the Shift gate should work, you will need to remove the wood console to get at the light on the shift gate.

[maheath]

I just went through this on my 1988 560SL. I think the bulb you need is a 12V 2W. I took my old bulb into a specialty light bulb shop and they had a replacement for $1.25. I had tried Pep Boys, but they didn't carry the bulb, even though it looks very similar to a Sylvania bulb they do carry.

Anyway, on a 560SL, remove the ashtray. Unscrew the two Phillips head screws that hold the ashtray mount in. Remove the ashtray mount. I had to contort mine. You want to pull the right side out first. Once that's out, remove the two Phillips head screws holding down the wood trim around the shifter. The opposite end has a prong that fits into a hole in the console. I couldn't remove mine until I popped out the power mirror switch. So pop out the power mirror switch and pull the wood trim towards the back. It should still be attached by the power window wires and the hazard light wires, but those are long enough to pull it out of the way. The shifter bulb is attached on the engine side of the shifter. You should be able to pull down on it to remove the wire and mount. You shouldn't have to remove the shifter assembly (although I did, and I gave it a good cleaning while it was apart). Pull the old bulb out and put the new one in.

Unfortunately, this didn't fix my problem, so I'm going to have to trace my wiring to see if there's a short or something.

[Tom McMenamin]

I appreciate your response!

I'll give it a try this weekend!

By the way, did you remove the shifter? I was kinda thinkin about replacing the Shifter with a Wood Grain Deal.

Is the removal of the shifter a problem?

[maheath]

I did remove the shifter in order to clean everything up. If you want to replace yours, you'll need to open up the shifter box. If I remember right, there's 4 phillips head screws on top in each corner. Remove those, lift up the top of the shifter case and using either an open-end wrench or a crescent wrench, loosen the nut at the base of the shifter shaft. This will allow you to remove the shifter knob and shaft.