Ugh ... I am a newbie to Mercedes so please bear with me.

I have a 1985 MB 300D with about 223k on it. I just got it in September and its now its spending its first winter in Canada.

I had the car out in the snow about 3-4 weeks ago and ran into a bunch of battery problems. It has sat in my heater apt. garage since then until just recently when I finally installed a new battery for it. (previous owner had a wee tiny / cheap battery put in it which couldn't turn the thing over unless it was +30 out)

Any hoo, so with the new batt my car now starts, but as soon as I try and go anywhere the car dosent move. Its like the parking brake is on ... but it isent. I tried setting the PB and then releasing it but no luck. It just wont budge. There is tension on the PB I think ... and the light goes on and off like it should ... but the car just wont budge.

Anyone have any idea what is going on? and how to fix it?

Welcome to the forum.

The first thing to do is to confirm that the parking brake is your issue.

Jack up the rear of the vehicle and attempt to turn the rear tires. If they don't rotate by hand, the parking brake is definitely stuck and you'll need to determine whether the linkage has frozen or corroded. You might be able to release the cable from the shoe and drive the vehicle without the parking brake.

Anyway, how about a little more self diagnosis. Assuming your garage floor is quite level, because that is the way they build them, can you roll the car backyard or forward at all, in neutral, car not running. Say a foot or so. If the brakes are locked up, you can't push it. Typically, if you are a normal size person, you can push it without too much difficulty. So, if you can move the car a foot or so one way or the other, you probably have a transmission problem The transmission needs to be properly filled with a good quality fluid and have a clean filter. The transmission should be checked warm, (hot) after driving say 15 - 20 miles. But with it in a no go condition, right now just check the transmission dip stick and make sure it shows some red colored fluid. Then report back with what you have discovered.

__________________
Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

Your shift linkage may have come loose so that when you move the gear selector it's not actually shifting the tranmsission. If you can't move it like junqueyardjim says have a peak at the shift linkage.

__________________

Hmmm I will give it a try. Hope the jack works
(seems one thing went ... then a bunch of other stuff is deciding to break at the same time)

Can't budge the car in neutral and not running. Wont budge even with two guys pushing.

Its an auto and I can feel it engage when I shift into drive or reverse. But no movement.

So I guess its either the brakes have seized or the parking brake is seized. (or both). Oie. I will take a look at it when I get home from work and report on my findings.

Help much appreciated guys ...

Well looks like the PB was just stuck. My brother suggested make certain it was disengaged, then giving a wee bit of throttle and see if it disengages.

So I did that and low and behold its ok now. It held abit but then there was a *thunk* sound and I can drive around now.

I will probably need to replace the PB cable at some point ... but at least I can drive around now.

Thanks for your help guys.