1998 300E Diesel Shifter stuck in drive
 

Car was put in park once before when it was still rolling real slow


Shifter went out of alignment after that, park was not there any more had to park in N with parking brake on or else it would roll on its own with a low grinding noise ( plastic gears like sound )


anyway I took into a shop for a tire repair and they forced it into drive now stuck there


they checked linkage and said all good and I may need an electronic controller ? I am not sure what to look for when I get to the shop this week !

Wow, they forced it into drive? That's the worst thing you can do! Never go back there again! :eek: when was the last time the shifter shaft bushing(s) were replaced? Just a shot in the dark.

Let's assume they never changed it because I never did my self .

Well I know I would never go back there and I am trying to make the shop pay for repairs as well.


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Ok the update is as follows

The mechanic said there was a safety solenoid locking the transmission which he gained access to by removing the trans oil pan that was pushed out the way, that solenoid connect to the ignition lock cylinder on steering column.

Now trams shifts free only if the shifter assembled is not locked in place ( entire shifter box is loose and u push linkage easy )

The car would still not start no matter what gear it is in Neutral or Park.





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Its best to use a proper scan tool like Star or at least carsoft to see whats up with that situation you have. The transmission control unit "talks" to the gearshifter unit to verify what gear position is selected. This system is also part of the safety start system (start in P and N only) - if it goes TU you need a shifter console (but this usually goes bad if it went on a drinking binge from your beverage spilling from the cup holder)

The transmission only has 4 mechanical movements from the shifter P R N D the lower functions dont move the rod at all, those 4 individual select gears are all done electronically as the shifter sends the command to the transmission control unit.

If you can somehow get the car to start and manually move the shift lever on the transmission (you will set an error code this way) and the car starts to move the mechanical function is OK - your problem is in the shift box. On the older cars (96) this problem is usually because of the cable interlock pawl breaking and locking the shift lever. Yours may or may not have this issue.

And does that happen only when the shifter box is mounted in position ? because the shifter moves fine if it is off the mounting holes but connected to the linkage