On my 1997 C280 Sport. The other day, I attempted to manually shift the trans to a lower gear. The shifter gate will not let me do so. I can put the shifter in P, R, N, D, but nothing lower. The trans shifts fine. I have no idea how long it has had this condition. I don't think I've attempted to do this in years.

Any ideas on what to start looking at? Is this possibly just something jamming the shifter gate in it's position? Or is there some sort of safety solenoid that is blocking the manual shifting to a lower gear.

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Thank You!
Fred
2009 ML350
2004 SL600
2004 SL500
1996 SL600
2002 SLK32
2005 CLK320 cabrio
2003 ML350
1997 C280 Sport