Blind pig eventually finds the acorn - Shifter bushing

[glenmore]

I been trying to track down an annoying rattle coming from under the front of the car. Nothing when revving the car in neutral, just when accelerating, most noticeable going up hills. Changed out the motor mounts which were original. They weren't broken, but squished enough so that the ride was nicely improved with the new mounts. Rattle still there though. Then changed the tranny mount. It was worn out. Rattle still there but less so. Changed out the 4 original muffler hangers. Front suspension all tight. Another thing I recently noticed was the shifter being a little looser. When in drive, you could nudge the shifter back and forth from D to 3 without changing any gears. I never noticed this before and wasn't positive if it was always like that.

I was out of ideas when I happened on some threads while doing another search. The shifter in my wife's C280 is very stiff moving from the Park position. I was searching with "stiff shifter" when all these threads came up describing the common loose shifter/ broken shifter bushing problem. Sure enough, looked under the car and there was the front bushing in two pieces. The procedure has been detailed in other threads. I only had time to change out the easier front bushing. The rear one was still intact but probably quite brittle. When you remove the linkage rod and lever be sure to note its orientation, particularly when you are wrestling with it to get the bushing in. I used the bolt/washer/19mm socket/washer/nut method of squeezing the bushing in. Finally no more rattle! and the shifter is firm like it should be.

glenmore
1991 300CE
2000 C280
1990 LS400