260E Shifter stuck in Drive and Neutral! Any Help??

[Chlippo]

My car (260E 1988 W124) shifter decided not to go up to reverse or park anymore...the shifter is stuck between Neutral and 2, so i can move the shifter from the low end (2) to neutral (N) and thats it. The problem started around 2 days ago where i had difficulties moving the shifter and now its completly stuck!
I dont recall anything that have slipped inside the shifter, and my transmission shifts good...
where do i start, any ideas are welcomed
Thanks

[johnjzjz]

first thing i would do is take off the shifter linkage at the rear of the shifter and see if it than ( the shifter ) moves freely, if so than operate the shift rod to see if the valve body is free if it does not move easy than its real possable its in the valve body but The bushings are suspect for sure before any internal issues -- jz

[porkface]

there's a lockout device in the trans that operates under pressure. once the trans gets moving, say, 5 mph or so, pressure pops out this rod that blocks the shifter so you can't go into reverse at too fast a speed.

pull the trans pan. assuming your feet are hanging out the drivers side, the valve is on your right, in the drivers side, front corner on the side of the valve body. i forget how many bolts, but it's no big deal. clean the sludge out of the valve, make sure it's nice and free and reinstall. btw, changing the atf every 30k, like mb says, USUALLY prevents this. i've only seen it on cars that have not been serviced. good luck, chuck.

[Chlippo]

Now suddenly and alone the shifter moves freely...but i took a look and some linkages were a bit twisted...i did what i can but now i do have another problem.
the rpm goes very high and the car runs very slowly...sometimes i have to press the acc pedal 100% to get the car moving a bit...any ideas here?
the fluid was missing around 0.5 liters i added it today

[johnjzjz]

Originally Posted by Chlippo

Now suddenly and alone the shifter moves freely...but i took a look and some linkages were a bit twisted...i did what i can but now i do have another problem.
the rpm goes very high and the car runs very slowly...sometimes i have to press the acc pedal 100% to get the car moving a bit...any ideas here?
the fluid was missing around 0.5 liters i added it today

i dont know if you might have bent the linkage when you were pushing the shifter to make it work but i would remove the shift rod and using D and see if it aligs up with the trans lever < see if i can get you to understand what i am getting to

remove the shift lever clip with the trans in Regular Drive than operate the lever on the trans from park back to drive < P ...R . N. D > see if it slips back into the bushing with out the lever or the shifter moving if not adjust so it just slides into to it EASLY --- than try driving the car < if it worked before it should work now with the correct location of shifter to trans selector location -- jz