I just installed a brand new wood shifter I picked up off of ebay. I noticed that the shaft bend was a different shape than the original. I was able to screw it in place with some patience. It looks good, but everything is off: when I shift to 'R' it's not engaging the reverse... when I continue shifting to a 'D' that it finally goes into Reverse. I have to go one past the 'D' to get it to go forward... Frustrating... looks like it may not be usable after all... what a bummer.

Any clues would be appreciated.

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1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

Did you just replace the knob? That should have nothing to do with your actual shifting...how are your bushings looking?

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

I didn't just replace the knob - I replaced the entire shifter including the shaft that screws into the receptacle under the shifter console...

Edit: I removed the new shifter and re-installed the old shifter - a much better fit... what do you all do - just replace the knobs at the end?!

__________________
1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

Whoops, my bad...

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

from my notes

1 shift lever fits 126, 124, 201

1 shift lever fits 116, 123, 107

original knobs are not replaceable

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1989 300ce smoke silver / brazil, in a constant state of flux ~~~

Has anyone ever cut off the rubber/plastic knob off of one of these shifters revealing the metal shaft?! Is there a photo of it?

I'd like to use the knob from the new shifter that I purchased. I discovered that the metal shaft is not compatible with my car so I'd like to try and install only the new knob on the old shaft.

Thanks,
James

__________________
1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

i've done it a couple of times, real pain in the butt

real question is how your new knob attaches ?? once you peel, slice, grind off the old knob you're left with a disc on the very top. whiz wack that off and you're left with just a roughly 9mm diameter smooth shaft

here's one i did ~~~ after whacking the disc off, used a 8X1.25 mm die(i think) to thread the shaft to fit the inside threads of the new shift knob ~~~ also stuck a nut and washer on the shaft first to lock nut the knob

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1989 300ce smoke silver / brazil, in a constant state of flux ~~~

so the zebrano shift knob I took off my 84 300D is not going to work on my 84 300SD? Dagnabit!

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mjk

'84 300SD 119KMi (Liesl der Diesel)
'84 300D 326KMi when the oil left (former parts car)
'82 300SD 253KMi (new parts car)

My shaft was bent slightly different too, but works fine (took like two hours to install). The wooden knob is loose, I need to reglue it. I like the looks, but not sure it's worth all that to have one.

I thought that 123 and 126 early (or 85 and older) shared the shifter among other things. Do you know the difference???

Robert

What does EPC say about it?

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mjk

'84 300SD 119KMi (Liesl der Diesel)
'84 300D 326KMi when the oil left (former parts car)
'82 300SD 253KMi (new parts car)