Have any of you fellow 300SD'ers ever experience gear stick chatter when you push on the gas? Over the last couple of days, something under the wood panel that houses the window switches and gearstick gates started to sort of rattle every time i push on the gas. If I hold on to the gearstick with my hand, it reduces the chatter or makes it disappear completely. So what sort of things are known to come loose under the wood panel to make this chatter sound that I'm describing?

Start by looking under the car with plastic bushings on shift linkage - they get hard and brittle after 20 years and only about $1 each (you need 2)

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

also i would look at motor mounts

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

motor mounts seem fine... but linkage bushes i'll investigate... are they easily found/replaced from underneath the car, or would i need to remove some stuff to get to them?

Most likely - linkage bushing(s) completely gone.

Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles

www.**************.com has a nifty little tool and instructions on how to. (If you like.)

Ease of replacement depends on the size of your hands.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

but also aren't there any parts that get loose looking from the top of the gear selector, like working from the interior trim down? because i can hear something a little loose there when i shift the gear selector from the inside the car...

it looks like the gear selector is getting loose from the shifting mechanism... weird. it also feels like it's happening right below the center console...

This really sounds like the shifter bushings. As stated, there are two of them. In the past six months I have had to replace them on both of my cars. A symptom i experienced which finally drove me to replace them was when I went to start the car, it wouldn't always start as the gear selector wasn't engaging park as it should due to the slop. This got annoying so I finally climbed under the car and replaced them.

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Mike

'80 300D
'84 300D
'85 300D
'87 300D

Does the transmission have a slight "thunk" when going from reverse to drive? I found a vibration on the shift selector was due to a failed bolt on the front flex disc....

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~shell
As of 2/2010:
2001 CLK55 0o\=*=/o0
13.6 @ 106mph
10K mi
1984 300SD
260K mi and going and going...
97 S600
46K miles
1991 Sentra SE-R (extremely dorked with)
www.se-r.net

here's a diagram of my gear selector... using the numbers marked on the diagram, could you tell me which bushings you were referring to (or all of them..)? I'm trying to make out what everything is on the diagram...

Here's how the parts list identifies this diagram:
5 - bearing
11 - shaft
17 - bushing
19 - spacer washer
26 - bushing
29 - lock ring
65 - yoke
68 - pin
71 - bushing
74 - spring
77 - lock
80 - washer
116 - shift case
119 - indicator, slotted gate lighting
122 - gear indicator, slotted gate lighting
125 - bracket, slotted gate lighting
128 - covering, slotted gate lighting
131 - boot
134 - bracket
137 - sheet metal screw
152 - handle
155 - nut
158 - gasket
167 - screw
197 - shifting rod
200 - nut
203 - bushing, gear selector lever
206 - lock, shifting rod to intermediate lever
209 - spring washer, shifting rod to intermediate lever

Attached Thumbnails

 

17 & 203.

http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com/mercedesshop/sophio/quote.jsp?clientid=catalog.mercedesshop&cookieid=1PY1E2LZD1SN1063I3&baseurl=http://catalog.peachparts.com/&partner=mercedesshop&year=1984&product=J4070-44817&application=000325362

Awesome! 17 and 203 are the same part number, and it looks like they're available at parts places

That's where it happens, all right. The bushing disintegrates and you have metal-to-metal contact.

One more vote for bushings. The noise comes right up through the shifter.
Vibration too. 17 and 203, same part number, cheap.
Can be done with car (at least left side) raised on jackstands.

A little tight. I took the lever off the trans to do that one on the bench.

Also, my 300SD had the stick go loose (it would spin around) that required
tightening of the locknut inside the car under the wood trim plate.

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80 300D 340K Owned 30 yrs
83 300SD 440K Owned 9 yrs - Daily Driver 150mi/day
02 Z71 Suburban 117,000
15 Toyota Prius 2600 miles
00 Harley Sportster 24k
09 Yamaha R6
03 Ninja 250