Help! Did I kill my 500E?!
 

I'm a little freaked out here, guys, so help me out...

Going down I-94 last night with the cruise set at 75 mph or so. I've been having that transmission bushing problem where the gear shift vibrates at speed, so I gave it a smack to make it stop. Unfortunately, it was a little TOO much of a smack and I knocked the selector into neutral. Argh!!!

I would say that the revs hit around 6500 for a couple seconds before I could figure out what I had done and was able to turn the cruise off and put the selector back into Drive. Not sure if the fuel cutoff kicked in or whatever type of rev limiter it has. The car may be chipped for all I know. The next 6 miles or so were tense ones indeed, but I really couldn't detect any unusual noises or behavior.

So: did I kill my car? Shortened its life considerably? What precautions/actions/etc. should I think about taking?

I almost puked on the way home, I was so upset with myself and my stupidity...

Kirk
1992 500E
Peral black/gray
60,400 miles

I am no expert, but i could not imagine a few seconds at 6500 doing much harm, especially for a 500E, which was designed to run hard.

I would not worry about it.

My $.02
FQ

Your car is fine, just fix the darn bushings.
These cars are rev happy, so no harm was done.
And at your mileage 60K?, That is still a brand new engine.
The problem would have been if you had smacked it in reverse!!!

Thanks, Guys
 

That's what I had hoped to hear--and yes, I need to fix those #$@$! bushings!

As to the bushing repair, I'm not much of a DIYer and have a very limited toolbox. Should I really try to do it myself or just take it to the dealer? What is the official repair called?

Thanks,
Kirk

I am unfamiliar with that repair. But if you have decent tools, and time, should be doable. Someone here will have to chime in on this, specifically on the 500E.

FQ

plenty of stuff on this, it is an easy DIY just awkward to get to. The 500e was shoe horned in so may be a little more difficult. If you are wary get it done in a shop they should not charge more than 1hr labour.
m

I had this done at the dealership once on an E420. I think the book is, or was, 3 tenths or 4 tenths of an hour - but nobody wants the job. The mechanic who got the job was noticeably distraught about it. The whole thing seemed to ruin his day. It's apparently very tight, for at least one of them. A shortage of tools could be a problem.

Did the bushing on my 400E, it took me more than 2 hrs, it was not a simple job, it was an unpleasant experience mostly due to lack of space.

Naaahhhh.

IMHO, no harm done at all.The 500E is a very tough car and was designed to be driven hard.

Just do the bushings and thank your lucky stars you didn't move the shifter into R instead!

Wonder how it would have turned out if that happened...

Cheers.:D

Seriously, when I drive my 400E, I often shift the tranny for acceleration, you know how sluggish the tranny on 400E is.

Say if I cruise at highway speed and shift it into R, what will happen? will it actually shift?

I would think it'll be a nightmare if it does shift, not only will it destroy the transmission but also skid the rear tires....

Wonder if anyone has had any experience, or can theorize on this?

:D

My dad drove a rental Mitsubishi in Australia (it was a big FWD mitsubishi). He put it in R when going about 5-10 mph...
the whole thing shuddered before it came to a rest...

Hang on. I'll go for a testdrive and see what happens when i shift to R at 90 mph..

Naaah.. I don't think so.:p

Seriously, i have also speculated if it is possible at all to shift to R when going forward.
It could happen by accident like in Fangio's case. But i have never heard of anyone who have done it.

On most manual transmissions it is physically impossible to place the shifter in reverse while the car is moving forward. But i had a Ford Galaxy (european van model), where the reverse gear had syncromesh. It was actually very nice when doing a 3-point turn. -Never tried it at higher speed though..

Freestyler

Years ago I had a 71 pre Feb. (with the good carbs) Datsun 240 Z ,while showing off for a friend i wound it to redline in first gear and as it had a misadjusted half moon part in the throttle linkage it went over center and stuck wide open as I shifted and would not go into second gear but stuck in netural.The RPM's instantly went past 8000 the engine screaming like a jet as I despertaly fumbled to shut it off ,it had a two ignition switchs one under the dash.Before I could shut it down it made a terrible rumble and quite running. Of course I thought it blew but after much sweating and cranking it fired and sounded fine, I drove it for three years after that .A mecanic friend that rallyed a 510 said the fuel pump could not keep up with the RPMs is why it had stopped and not to worry that it happend to him several times in his rally car.That old Datsun inline six sure looked like a MB six copy.........
William Rogers.......