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  #1  
Old 08-17-2002, 11:04 PM
zorak
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Arrow '73 280 sel: play in floor shifter...

hello everyone, how is this for my first post:

i have a w108 '73 280 sel, and just yesterday i noticed my floor shifter (automatic) has developed a bit of play.

the problem is when i put the car in gear, there is a bit of action in the stick itself (not the shifter knob). the movement is front and back, not side to side. the car selects gears fine and stays in gear, but i would like to fix this problem before it gets worse or develops into something else.

is this an easy and relatively inexpensive fix? being a broke-ass college student, i hope so. any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

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Old 08-17-2002, 11:32 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Evansville, Indiana
Posts: 8,150
Gee, how did you get the floor shifter when I got stuck with the cranky column shift?

The problem is a missing bushing or two in the linkage. They are high density Tygon (or some such) and wear and fall out, leaving you with a lever in a hole much too large for it.

They are cheap -- couple bucks, I think, but a real bear to get in on the car. We usually remove the lever from the transmission and press the bushing in with a vice (after putting a little wheel bearing grease on it!). I suppose you could manage to get it in with a large pair of channellocks on the car, but it's not worth the effort to me.

More details if you need them.

Peter
__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!
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  #3  
Old 08-17-2002, 11:45 PM
zorak
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thanks for the reply...

so in your opinion i should just buckle down and take the car to a mechanic? i don't want to mess anything up trying to cheap my way around the repair. what kind of labor time am i looking at?
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  #4  
Old 08-18-2002, 07:08 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Evansville, Indiana
Posts: 8,150
Time: about an hour if you have a floor jack and jack stands. If you don't, I'm not sure I'd tackle the job at home. I don't know that you can reach the tranny lever with the car on the ground.

It won't be expensive to have it done, it only takes a few minutes with the car on a lift and some practice changing them.

No reason not to do it yourself, though, if you want.

The lever and linkage is pretty obvious. You will see where the bushing goes. Unclip the shift lever rod (usually a snap over clip -- you spread the open end so that the top part goes over the end of the shift rod, it snaps down to lock in place). Pull the shift rod out of the hole, grease the bushing, and force one side through. You will have to use a pair of pliers or channellocks, it is far to stiff to shove through by hand. One the bushing is seated in the hole (be sure to use the proper one, there are four!), push the shift rod back through and put the clip back on, you are done.

If you cannot get the bushing on in the car, remove the small bolt that holds the lever on. You will have to take it completely out, not just loosen it since it fits into a cutout on the shaft. Pull the lever off, leaving the little sheetmetal thing in place -- this operates the safety switch/backup light. Should slide right off, but if it doesn't, remove the small screw and leave it behind. Don't move the shaft.

Get the bushing in place, put the lever back on, then re-install the lever and safety switch actator. If you had to remove the small screw, set both transmission and lever in neutral and make sure the hole in the actuator and safety switch line up -- I think the hole is about 1/8" dia or so, you can find a drill or something (nail works too) to make sure they are lined up, then tighten the screw.

Takes almost as long to describe as to do.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!
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