Shifter blind - easy fix?
 

The piece of trim that sits around the gear shifter has broken on my C 230 1999.

This is the black plastic piece that sildes forwards and backwards when you change from park to drive etc. I think it is called the shifter blind. On my car it is either broken or missing and I can actually see metalwork through the slot.

It looks like it should be an easy fix, but anyone got any pointers before I start ripping my center console apart?

any help gratefully received.

regards

chuck

shifter quadrent peice
 

It sounds simular to my wife's old 1990 Toyota corolla. I replaced the cracked plastic peice that tells you what gear your in and put in a new bulb . What I did not do right is disconnect the netive battery terminal before disassembling and re assembling . I found out that a fush controls an arm the locks the transmission for safety reasons , The mechcanic down the street new what I had done and after reinstalling a new fuse it was brand new again.
Do your research and ask questions it is bound to keep you out of trouble.
Bob Geco
Not a mechanic but like to work on my cars.

ON that car the "watchband" replacement is simple. removal of the shifter knob & trim around the shifter will allow access to the top of the shifter housing.

May well be, but I was faced with the same problem on my W140 with
the same 722.6 auto gearbox, and I found that replacing the "shutter" (yeah,
more words for it...), for that non-tip-shift shifter, involves removing
the shifter from the car to replace the shutter from beneath.

The tricky part is to separate the top plastic housing that contains the shutter,
from the base of the shifter. Getting access to little tabs to do that, requires
you to remove the shifter, I think. It will make the process of pressing all tabs
at once and leveling the top housing off, a lot easier.

The linkage to the transmission, I could remove thru the hole,
so I did not have to get under the car.

Have a look at some of the images I took in the process (leaving
out the procedure of removing wood and air funnels that will be different
on your car texChuck;

http://www.pvv.org/~syljua/merc/7226Shifter1.jpg

This shows where the shutter slides from beneath. New and old shutter;

http://www.pvv.org/~syljua/merc/7226Shifter2.jpg

The completed shifter;

http://www.pvv.org/~syljua/merc/7226Shifter3.jpg

For me, a rather tricky job, but the more satisfying when done! :)

Good luck!

br,
syljua

update
 

thanks, yes great pictures, this is exactly what I need to do.

I've just got back from a parts hunting trip. My local dealership wanted $76 for just the shutter - no thanks, and a local auto salvage yard had a shifter unit from an SLK but wouldn't split the unit, they wanted me to buy the whole thing, and I wasn't sure it was the right one anyway.

Anyone know where I can get one of these shutters for a reasonable price, its only a strip of rubber after all.

I think it is the part 116 in this diagram?;
http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.asp?TP=1&F=202085&M=111%2E975&GA=722%2E605&GM=717%2E460&CT=F&cat=45H&SID=27&SGR=190&SGN=01

At a shop in Denmark, it is listed as 108 Danish Kroner, which is below
US$20, so $70 is too much;

http://www.autoimport.dk/reservedele/soeg/?find=1292670026+&submit=Varenr.

At the S129 club in Germany, http://www.classic-roadster.de/ , it is listed
at €10, ca. US$13.

I do not know any other source in US where you can buy by
the Mercedes part number, but now at least you have that.
A1292670026

br,
syljua