Well we finally figured out why this nice little car was such a bear to put in reverse. My friend Danny was under the car, (very safely jacked up on wheel rams and jack stands and a floor jack) and I in the car doing the shifting. Danny said it was not in the shift rods, they all had good clearance and in every move they were very good, but we had shortened them all four inches. Well then the problem had to be in the shifter or in the transmission. We chose to pick on the shifter in the console. In short order Danny had it out and apart and there was the problem.
http://mb.ilcats.ru/part/class/1/ccode/F/cat/68K/type/123/subtype/123/group/26
Part number 5 and 26 were in very bad condition, matter of fact #5 was almost cracked in half. Seems like somewhere in the distant past a flex joint let go allowing the front drive shaft to give the floor an awful hit, tearing a 6 to 8 inch rip in the floor and then giving the shifter mount, (#5) a whack that really split it internally and that cause the end bushing, #26 to wear out to the point we couldn't really figure out what it was. Ordered the parts from the dealer at $47.00 and hope to have them tomorrow. Since we have it all out, I will repair the floor with JB Weld, although we probably could as well weld in a little patch. It was very frustrating trying to get that car in reverse. Usually took 3 to 4 trys and a lot of pressure. Not good when you are in a hurry.

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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!

Best to make sure and replace all wear parts of the shifter:
41, 44, 65, 26 and don't forget that little washer inside the tophat #32! If you don't have that in there, the spring will rub a hole through the end of that bushing.

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'85 300TD "Puff The Magic Wagon" - Rolling Resto
'19 Mazda CX-9 Signature - Wife's sled
'21 Morgan 3-Wheeler P101 Edition
'95 E300d - SOLD
'84 300TD "Brown Betty" - Miss this one
'81 240D "China Baby" - Farm grocery getter