'88 560sl gear shift seems really loose

[David Langsam]

Recently, my gear shift seems very loose and sloppy. It doesn't have that typical solid feel when moving from gear to gear. You can move it almost the whole way to a new gear before you fell any resistance.

Any ideas what it could be? How hard is it to fix?

Thanks. David.

[deanyel]

Almost certainly bad shifter bushings. There's a wealth of information under the search function. It's a little tricky but not that hard a job if you study up a little, and the bushings are cheap.

[David Langsam]

Thanks. I'll take a look. If you've done it before, I'd sure appreciate some guidance.

David.

P.S. I was very proud of myself today for changing out the driver side door handle/lock. I unscrewed both screws, but it wouldn't come out. And it's very hard to see inside the door where it hung up. Looking at the new piece, I notice a t-shaped lever that turned with the lock. So I put the key in the lock of the handle stuck in the door, turned and, viola, it came right out. Same technique going back in.

Having fiddled around with the car, I've learned there is always a simple trick, and if it doesn't come out on it's own, don't force it!

[deanyel]

You'll get all kinds of guidance in the search. The front one can't really be done on the car - you have to take off the transmission lever and do it on a work bench. My other advice would be don't bother with the long nose plyers method - just go straight to the nut/bolt method.