OK, checking out kent over at the mercedes s**urce website. He shows replacing the shifter bushing working it from underneath the car. On the pelican parts shifter bushing replacement article (link below), it shows going at the bushing(s) from inside the car (top side). Are these the same bushings or are the bushings topside different from what you find underneath the car?


https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Mercedes-W123/117-INTERIOR-Shifter_Bushings_Replacement/117-INTERIOR-Shifter_Bushings_Replacement.htm

Same bushings. Underneath the car is best. A tool that I acquired a few years ago helps with the installation - a cherry pit remover. Looks like a pair of pliers with both a pushing side and a receiver side.,

I haven't climbed under the car yet to check it out but it seems like working from above would be easier? Since I have no experience in changing these out, I dunno......

Considering the linkages you need to access are underneath the car with zero access from above, you have no choice but to work from below. It's a 10 minute job, the worst part is getting the damn retainer clips off and back on without having them ping off half a dozen times.

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Current stable:
1995 E320 157K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 125K (SLoL)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Gone and wanting to forget:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™) [Definitely NOT a Benz]

The pelican Parts link is for the shifter handle bushings, unless your shifter is wobbly in your hand you prolly need to go underneath the car and change the shifter linkage bushings .

Remember to safely jack and block up the car .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Due to the age of your car, you might as well change both floor-shift bushings and linkage bushings. It's much easier to change the linkage bushings on a bench.

From under the car: disconnect the linkage at the floor-shifter. Remove the shift bracket at the transmission and slide out the linkage with bracket and front bushing. Remove the floor-shift assembly. Now you can replace both linkage bushings easily on a bench as well as the two floor-shift bushings.

With the brackets in a vise and a 19mm 12 point socket on one end, the linkage bushings can be pressed into the socket for removal and installation. No "special tool" is necessary.

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Don't Chrome them; polish them

This advice in and of itself is golden based on my having done this job.

Yes, I second this. Great advice and thank you for clearly presenting both the problem and the best solution.

I don't think these are my pictures but I used a similar set up to install my shifter linkage bushings.

I my particular case besides one shifter busing being gone the other was trash and I had a broken bushing at the bottom of the shifter lever. Because of that issue I had the whole lever removed and the upper linkage bushing was easier to get at.

There is a actually 2 small bushings on the lever and one large bushing with a flange (the flange cracked off on mine) I can't remember if there is another large bushing or not.

Attached Thumbnails

   

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I did that on my SDL and need to do it on my 300D. Took me a lot longer than 10 minutes. Maybe I should break down and buy Kent's tool because popping that bushing into it's home is a MF. Was easy on the neutral safety switch as I had it on the bench. Not sure if the 300D is the same on that score.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

The tool is a real timesaver for a simple, and often frustrating job.
I'm close by in downtown Oakland M-F.
Send me a PM to borrow it.

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78 W116 300SD 'Desert Rose' new as of 01/26/2014
79 W116 300SD 'Stormcloud' RIP 04/11/2022

Is the bushing top side MB part # 115-267-12-50-MBZ??

Dang man, thanks for the offer. I'm actually in Redwood City now, maybe I should change my heading finally. I wish I'd come back to this thread earlier. Last night I put it in with this home-made device:



The big washer on the right is pushing on a skinny cut-off piece from a 3/4 copper elbow, it is pushing on the shift arm, and the bushing is of course to the left of that.

Not quite as well designed as Kent's tool, I tightened it, and loosed it a couple of times to see what was going on, was not pushing it all the way through so I tightened it such that the busing part to the left of the shift part was seriously thin and flat. That did it, almost, the little curved up part didn't pop out on the right side but it was pushed in pretty thoroughly. I was thinking 'good enough' and put the little clip back on. Now I've wondering if that was prudent, do not want that sucker working it's way out. I think I'll access it again and grip the part on the right side with pliers, squeeze it while wiggling it and trying to pull it through in hopes the shift arm steel will nestle in the groove.

The bushing on the tranny end is also gone. Whoa, that's a tight space. I see I can pull that lever arm off and do it on the bench. But getting the clip back on is going to be yet another building a ship inside a bottle exercise.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Same Idea as post number 9.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Does anyone know if this is the correct part number for the top side bushings?