Blind pig eventually finds the acorn - Shifter bushing
 

I been trying to track down an annoying rattle coming from under the front of the car. Nothing when revving the car in neutral, just when accelerating, most noticeable going up hills. Changed out the motor mounts which were original. They weren't broken, but squished enough so that the ride was nicely improved with the new mounts. Rattle still there though. Then changed the tranny mount. It was worn out. Rattle still there but less so. Changed out the 4 original muffler hangers. Front suspension all tight. Another thing I recently noticed was the shifter being a little looser. When in drive, you could nudge the shifter back and forth from D to 3 without changing any gears. I never noticed this before and wasn't positive if it was always like that.

I was out of ideas when I happened on some threads while doing another search. The shifter in my wife's C280 is very stiff moving from the Park position. I was searching with "stiff shifter" when all these threads came up describing the common loose shifter/ broken shifter bushing problem. Sure enough, looked under the car and there was the front bushing in two pieces. The procedure has been detailed in other threads. I only had time to change out the easier front bushing. The rear one was still intact but probably quite brittle. When you remove the linkage rod and lever be sure to note its orientation, particularly when you are wrestling with it to get the bushing in. I used the bolt/washer/19mm socket/washer/nut method of squeezing the bushing in. Finally no more rattle! and the shifter is firm like it should be.

glenmore
1991 300CE
2000 C280
1990 LS400

One day while driving to, ironically enough, my automotive class to do some work on my 300SE, there was a God awful loud buzzing noise under the shifter area. I pulled over to check for anything odd, but found nothing. I drove to class and while the car was on the lift, saw that the rear shifter bushing was almost gone. Mystery solved, it dropped into the tunnel, got caught in the center bearing and finally exited out the back.

I'll replace it this weekend. I'm going to remove the shifter and rod and do this on my workbench.

You can do it with everything still installed on the car.

Just undo the shift rod clip and push a new bushing into the hole.

Then reapply the clip-done.

It helps to have it up on a lift.

Isn't it a blind squirel that will eventually find an acorn? Why would a blind pig, or even a sighted pig, care about an acorn? I believe pigs are more concerned with being in pokes - but I could be wrong on this.

You're right. It's a truffle not an acorn.

Just finished doing the rear shifter bushing. This has to go under the category of "doable but very annoying".

It can be done from above and then on a work bench but my record of removing plastic trims without breaking them is not good.

From under the car there is room to use the bolt/washer/nut method. Use a bolt no longer than 2" or you will run out of room. Too narrow to use a 19mm socket, so I used the box end of a large wrench on the receiving side of the tang. I pulled the bushing in from driver's side to the passenger side. The toughest part is making sure the lips of the bushing are still not tucked under from squeezing it in.

glenmore
1991 300CE, 136m
2000 C280
1990 LS400