W210 Won't Start in Park
 

My 1996 W210 with 126,000 miles just developed an annoying problem. It will not start or even crank in Park. I have to put the car in neutral and it will then crank and start-usually. Any thoughts?

Tagging along. My dad just called with the same problem but he said the tranny was locked in Park. He has a 2002 E320

Poster 1, neutral saftey switch

Poster 2, stop lamp switch or more likely, bad shifter unit.

Is replacing the neutral safety switch easy to do? I'm pretty handy but haven't done this before. Thanks.

Tight space ,but not bad.

It is on the left side of trans..Couple of tricks

The wire harness connector has a white circular ring that locks the connector plug..You simply must rotate that ring in order to unplug the harmess.
And there is a line-up hole for the lever that is lined up for correct operation..you will see that.
And lastly, it is quite common to have a bad plastic bushing on the shift rod..get one of them too.
Sometimes that is all that is wrong..a bad bushing does not allow the rod to travel all the way into P before the shifter gets stopped by the gate.
Youwill feel a lot of slop in N if that is gone.

http://catalog.peachparts.com/ShopByVehicle.epc?q=1996-Mercedes--Benz-E3--0-Transmission&yearid=1996%40%401996&makeid=63%40%40MERCEDES+BENZ%40%40X&modelid=6393%3AMBC%7C1575%3AE D%7C10000023%40%40E320&catid=241185%40%40Transmission&subcatid=241298@@Neutral+Safety+Switch&mode=PA
http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W124ShiftBushings

Arthur hit it on the head. As usual. :D

Follow his instructions & you'll burning dinosaurs again in no time; I just did it on my 300E.

It's so easy even a marine could do it! :bowrofl: (spoken by a former submariner)

Actaully it is straightforward, with the caveats that you neeed to get under the car and the access is tight (use small wrenches). The shifter linkage bushings need to be squeezed in with channel locks.

The trick on the bushings is to warm them in a cup of hot water..they will then just Pop right in.