'86 190e - Stuck gear selector/shifter automatic transmission
 

Hello,

The past week my sister has experienced a problem with her 86 190e. She would shift the selector to Drive and be on her way, but when she's about to park or go into Reverse the gear selector won't move into R or P. She can shift it into N back to D and go down to 2. Then when she tries to go back to R or P the selector just stops solidly. Playing with it for a few minutes finally got it into R or P.

This has happened 4 times now in a weeks time. I have tried it myself have not been able to reproduce the problem. I looked underneath and the rod and bushings are fine; no slop at all. It seems as though something doesn't get synchronized occasionally and jams the selector.

Again it's a 86 190e 8V, auto transmission with 99K miles.

Any help would be appreciated...thanks!

Nolan

Diesel Guy,
This could a long shot but

When the trans builds governor pressure a pin is moved to block the shifter from accessing reverse (cause that would be bad). As one stops the governor pressure reduces and the pin retracts. Could it be this pin is sticking in the valve body?

On a simpler note take a bright light and make sure no pennies have fallen into the shifter from the top side.

Yes that is a very posible senario although the problem is the governor itself. The governor makes no pressure till 10kph when it pops the reverse lock-out engages. The governor needs to drop out on decel.

Hello,

The transmission pan was dropped and the tech found bits of plastic. The tranny was then dropped and tore down. The valve body also had tiny bits in it. He then pointed out a location in a pump and said a plastic breather or vent was missing as well as a tiny check ball. There were score marks inside the pump probably from the check ball rolling around. The clutches were also worn. He suggested a complete overhaul to the tune of $1450.

The car has 99k miles which seems low, but the car was mainly driven in the city up and down the mountain for most of it's life. We trust the tech and the shop has done great job on our other two cars.

Thanks again for the help guys.

Nolan