hi folks,

i know the shift rods had to be shortened as part of my 617 swap and i think they may be loose or otherwise out of whack. i'm looking for information on accessing and checking them. i've got a couple of illustrations of the system and i understand that with the cabin shift lever in neutral, the three levers on the transmission should be at rest.

i removed the assembly below the shift lever and it looked intact; presumably i need to work from underneath to see the linkages.

here are the specific symptoms i have experienced; anything in particular i should look for when the car's up on a hoist?

* a too-rapid shift from 1st into 2nd causes the lever to pull out half an inch, as if i were pulling it to enter reverse, resulting in grinding gears.

* i have twice gotten stuck in gear (lastly 2nd) and barely been able to get the mechanism moving again. luckily, i can mostly drive around town in 2nd, but obviously i want all four gears to work.

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.

Did you change the fluid in the transmission?
Should be Type F ATF or one of the good transmission lubes like Redline MTL or the LubroMoly one. Old fluid can make shifting more difficult
Outside that, it sounds like you've got worn synchros.
I haven't done the Auto ->manual tranny swap myself but if you haven't changed the fluid in your new transmission, you can do that yourself with just a few tools and a few quarts. It's a cheap piece of maintenance that needs to be done anyway and it can't hurt trying.

Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

Could be that your Shifter is worn and needs a rebuild kit.

How are the bushings on the ends of the shift Rods? sloppy or gone?

There is a hole in the each of the 3 levers hanging down from the shifter. It is right under the shifter, look for the 2 upside down "V`s" on either side. using a Drill Bit, nail etc... of the appropriate size keeps the levers lined up in natural.

Then adjust the length of the rods. make sure each of the Transmission levers is in the natural position.


Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

thank you phil and charlie. the transmission is original to the chassis (200K miles) - i do have a spare here if it goes south. i looked over the invoice for the swap and didn't see that the oil had been changed, so i can do that; it did say the linkage had got new bushings. i couldn't tell much from looking under the shifter so i assume i have to look from underneath next.


i still figure they may have got one of the rod angles wrong and the force sometimes goes the wrong way, so i mean to examine how they move together - if there's any slop in the system, busted bearings, etc.

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.

You could have them mixed up as well, Or they need to be bent so they don't bind together.
If the rod length is improper it will cause issues like you describe. If a rod is too long it wont come out of gear fully. If it is too short it wont go in fully. both issues will cause gear grinding. If the rods are not bent properly they will bind together when shifting. I bet if you readjust and re-bend the rods you will be in the clear. You can get under the car while someone else does the shifting and look at the linkage to see what is going on.

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Chris
84 280sl
82 300d euro

x2

to x2 charile- the shifter levers under the stick handle have a pass through hole that locks them all in place in slightly different positions. This is neutral. You can use an allen key close to the right size to lock them, when you do this all the levers on the transmission should be in the neutral position. if they arent, then they are misadjusted lengthwise.

Secondly binding issues can cause this problem to x2 C.doner, make sure you do as stated above, get someone in the driver seat to shift through while you watch. even a slight bend thats off will cause a binding and could prevent a full gear change.
Ive done this to myself a few times on projects where I had a bad bind and skipped over it to assuming major problems with the gearbox, the bend of the levers is really crucial to a clear shift

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

Well it is not hard to make it a mean thing to shift. There are a number of small things that can be wrong. You had to shorten them and if you shorten them all about 4 inch, that should be OK. Did you put new bushings in the eye of the adjustable ends, it is pretty cheap and easy to do. The shifter can be worn out. It is also rather inexpensive and not too difficult. But in doing all that, I still had trouble getting mine to shift nice and easy. So I made that little 6mm tool from a 6mm bolt. I cut the head and threaded part off the bolt and welded the threaded part at 90 degree to the smooth short piece of rod for a little handle. Then I ground the smooth piece at the other end to a point to make it easy to insert. Then make sure the transmission is in neutral and with that pin holding the shift levers in alignment, put the long shift rods in place and at the same time adjust there length at the clevis end to fit just right. Now here is a picture of the rods and there placement. If your transmssion is a late one they may differ - then let me know and I will fix you up with the correct one. This picture is of the shift rods through 81.

http://mb.ilcats.ru/part/class/1/ccode/F/cat/68K/type/123/subtype/123/group/26

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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!

They should all align evenly.

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1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

great advice everyone. just one question, in the exploded diagram, which parts are the "shifter"? the whole horizontal sliding apparatus?

#59, "shifting tube spring", i am wondering if it's too slack. it's easy to raise the lever half an inch and kind of rattle it around top-to-bottom.

i will stick a tool in the alignment slots and check that the three levers are all centered in neutral afterwards. great tip.

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.

Items, 53, 80, 41, 11, 4, 92, 86, 93, 47, 38, 29, 56, 32, 26.
Slide them into #5 and that is the Shifter assembly.

Unscrew nut #68 and the shift lever should pull straight up and out. maybe # 62 Bushing is worn? Could be the spring is weak.

Take it apart and look at it.

Charlie

__________________
there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works