Hey guys I have a 87 300sdl and the problem has occurred twice now about a month apart from each other.. The first time it happened I left my car idling to fuel up, went in paid and came out and my shifter moved but it won't click into gear it'll just roll, but park still works so I rolled into a parking spot went back with my dad and his tow truck later but figured I'd try anyway and it drove fine for about a month till it happened again last night at a friends house I started it and let it idle for about a half hour backed out of his driveway and then it wouldn't go into gear again so I left my car there and this morning it was fine again so I'm thinking something is getting hot from idling and not engaging maybe? Anyone know how I can fix this? Or will I have to swap in a different tranny? Thanks guys

Also you can see the lever moving from under the car when I move the shifter so that definitely isn't disconnected

I would check out the shifter lever bushings and make sure that there is no excess slack. I would then check the service manual and see if they have any shifter rod alignment procedures. Good luck

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96 E300d

I am suprised someone did not say check the ATF Fluid and the Fluid Level.

A basic place to start is a Filter and fluid change.

If it is not the Shifter Bushings you are having the Symptoms of a B2 Piston issue. Cannot go Forward but can go backwards.

I had a similar issue but when evething was cold. I changed the ATF and Filter and it drove normally for abot 3/4ths+ of a Year and then the B2 Piston broke and I lost all forward movement.
I am not sure what year your 300SDL is. But if it is later than 1986 may have come from the Factory with the updated B2 Piston.
Someone who knows more about the Transmissions in later models that mine needs to chime in on that.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Doesn't a B2 failure result in total inability to engage drive? Or can it show up sporadically over a long period?

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1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

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Just another thought - I once had a pen cap fall down into the console and this caused it not to shift.

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00 E420
98 E300 DT
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97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
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I'll check the fluid and the car won't move forwards or backwards when it happens, if I put it in reverse the backup lights come on so I think the shifter is doing it's job it just won't actually go into gear

Follow the instructions on checking the transmission fluid.

I can only speak of Mine. When it first started it was sporatic. I changed the Fluid and Filter and that seemed to fix it.
However, mine had the original B2 Piston and Aluminum Bushing and you could see were the part of the B2 Piston was grabbing onto the Bushing. That might have been why it was sporatic.

The New Bushing seems to be like Nylon and the B2 Mercedes had updated the B2 Piston several times by the time I bought the New one to replace the broken one.

The other issue is that the B2 Piston Seal can also go bad. However, I don't know the symptoms of that or how to differentiate it from the B2 Piston problems.

In the Trans Book it has when the B2 Piston Breaks that you lose all forward motion but can still use reverse. However, the bugger here is that the end of the B2 band can break and you will have similar symptoms.

But, the OP has a 1987 model so it should have had the updated Piston and Bushing but I don't know that for sure (also I think My Transmission is different). It is just that his symptoms are simalar to mine.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel