johnng117

Your gear shifter unit needs changing as there is an electrical fault.
It will get worse, and may damage your TCU.

jday8480

2002 c240
I replaced the radio. disassembled the center console, installed radio and reassembled the console. everything went perfect without any problems. The very next stop I made was at a gas station. I pulled into a parking spot and tried to put the car in park, but it would not go above neutral. I put it in neutral and applied the parking break. I was not able to take the keys out of the car, as they can not be removed without the car being a park. when I tried to put the car in reverse to leave I discovered that I couldn't do that either. I had to put the car in neutral and push the car out of the parking spot in order to leave the gas station. The car is functioning perfectly in every way, except I cannot get the shifter to engage in reverse or park, it will only go into neutral and drive.

I have been told that it is likely a very simple fix replacing a clasp on the linkage of the shifter? I put it up on a lift and looked at the connection and nothing seems to be missing, but i dont really know what i am looking for. there is some play in the rod connecting the shifter to the transmission, but the assembly on both ends seem to be in order. can anyone shed some light on what my problem might be?

tried resetting the battery and the switch beneath the cupholder, break lights work. this car only has 32000 mils on it. hard to imagine the entire shifter assembly is bad after that little use. and the fact that it happened as soon as i reassembled the console makes me think there is something else at play.

can you offer detailed instructions on how to repair it? Pictures would be great. Thank you.

johnng117

You need to replace the gear shifter unit, the circuit on the shifter is very simple and nothing really to repair.
I have a spare gear shifter if you need one, I have change 2 already on mine. My car has 70k miles.

[qQUOTE=jday8480;6556273]2002 c240
I replaced the radio. disassembled the center console, installed radio and reassembled the console. everything went perfect without any problems. The very next stop I made was at a gas station. I pulled into a parking spot and tried to put the car in park, but it would not go above neutral. I put it in neutral and applied the parking break. I was not able to take the keys out of the car, as they can not be removed without the car being a park. when I tried to put the car in reverse to leave I discovered that I couldn't do that either. I had to put the car in neutral and push the car out of the parking spot in order to leave the gas station. The car is functioning perfectly in every way, except I cannot get the shifter to engage in reverse or park, it will only go into neutral and drive.

I have been told that it is likely a very simple fix replacing a clasp on the linkage of the shifter? I put it up on a lift and looked at the connection and nothing seems to be missing, but i dont really know what i am looking for. there is some play in the rod connecting the shifter to the transmission, but the assembly on both ends seem to be in order. can anyone shed some light on what my problem might be?

tried resetting the battery and the switch beneath the cupholder, break lights work. this car only has 32000 mils on it. hard to imagine the entire shifter assembly is bad after that little use. and the fact that it happened as soon as i reassembled the console makes me think there is something else at play.

can you offer detailed instructions on how to repair it? Pictures would be great. Thank you.[/QUOTE]

jday8480

Ok, I'm happy to give that a try. Do you have the 2002 C240? Could I get that unit from you? Do you have a video or pictures or anything showing the best method for replacement?

Avi BM

Hi jday8480
Would appreciate your advice,
my C240 W203, 2003 automatic gear, has exactly the same problem
Wont shift up from N , Stuck in N or D. I can override it (small clips near car holder) to go into D but can never get it up above N.
Dashboard shows N when switching on and detect move into D.
Brake lights work. What was the solution to your problem ? Did replacing the gear shift work ? was your gear showing the correct selection in the dashboard ?

johnng117

Time to replace the gear shifter unit.

cvx

My DIY to change the shifter unit.

Confirm unit number before getting replacement since it might be different than mine

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ode-p1856.html

Mercedesamg5532

HHAHAHAAHAHAHAH that's funny because I had the same exact problem in my bros c32

Mercedesamg5532

IM HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM CAN YOU BE MORE SPECIFIC ABOUT THE BUTTON. I DONT SEE WHERE I SHOULD BE PUTTING THE FLATHEAD IN.

Vconde90

Has anybody found a solution for this problem. My 2007 c280 4matic is stuck in drive/neutral. And also how much harm if any am I causing by turning the car off whiles its in neutral since it won't let me get in park this is the only thing I can do.... Any help plz!

Frederic944

Shutting it off in Neutral won't do any harm as Park or Neutral is the same thing for the transmission. When you say, stuck in D or N, you mean the shift itself doesn't let you go out of these positions, correct?

Vconde90

Ok thanks so if I do this for an extended period of time I will be ok right? And yes I can shift from drive to neutral and vice versa but nothing else, the past cpl of days if I messed with it for a few seconds it would eventually go all the way to park but now it just seems stuck it won't go past neutral.

johnng117

Answer is above...
Should read codes first.
If not seen to you will damage your TCU.

Tebbyj

I had this happen to my C32 as well but a bit more harshly. Car would not shift into R or P but in drive would also not shift over second gear(limp home mode).
Bit that gave it away was the the readout on the dash would say D when i was in N or even R (even though the shifter wouldn't go into it).

This was intermittent for awhile so I just left it but one day car would not start. Shifter was telling ECU i was in D so it wouldn't crank over, didn't matter where I put the actual leaver the computer said no.
So a towing fee and a new shifter later all is well and good. So to get to the point of my story, yes it may work but get it seen too before you too get stuck in a supermarket car-park and everyone sees your beloved AMG on a tow truck...

Ropeman6

MBSophio. Did you ever get this solved. I have a 2002 C32 and am experiencing the same problem. Changed the shifter module, but still have the problem.

Ackime Snow

This happened to me a few times. The problem in my experience was that a T20 torque fell into the gear box when this clown was replacing my navigation unit. Worked fine for a few weeks then one day I'm trying to put the car in reverse and I just wouldn't budge. I ended up loosing the gear box and shaking it then I got it to work.

Second time it happened I drove the car to a shop and the whole gearbox had to be removed, flipped upside down, and shaken until the T20 fell out.

Maybe something fell in your gear box.

02'3.2L-C320

Okay guys, I have a 2002 Mercedes c320 and I'm posting here because this is the most relevant thread I've found so far.

I'm having this issue. There is no brake light switch under the dash. This problem has happened a few other times but started working again after playing with the shifter for a bit. I've never been stuck in Park. It's always been after I've been driving, that it won't go into Park. Reverse Neutral and Drive all work fine and the rest of the vehicle works fine. But its been days now that I cannot get it to shift back into Park. I know about the bypass and have disassembled the center console to use it but it does nothing. When I push it, it won't shift past neutral. But if I don't push it, then it will go up to reverse, but not into Park. Can you offer any advice? I don't know if it's coincidence or not, but I was reading a thread about this same issue someone else was having on the same vehicle and it began the day after a heavy storm. And I don't remember about the other times that this happened for me, but I know that it happened for me as well the day after a very bad storm. And right before the storm everything was working fine. I know because I moved the car out from under an old tree, and now it's now not going into Park.

benzslo

The button you push is ONLY for getting out of park, it has nothing to do with getting it into park. There is no electrical issue or system that could make it stuck in drive.
Any problem like this is purely a mechanical issue. Like someone else found something is likely in your shifter. There is no mechanism on the car that limits it to neutral and drive.
You could remove your shifter and disassemble it to find the issue.

PJmak

+1 ^^

I had this issue. My shifter had broken plastic bits inside of it.

02'3.2L-C320

Thank you so much guys! I disassembled the shifter assembly and found a screw wedged in behind where the shifter would usually be in Drive. Preventing the shifter from moving completely forward into Park. Again, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CLEAR ADVICE!!!

02'3.2L-C320

I know this has nothing to do with the original thread, but do you guys know what tire size I need to fit 19s and what rim width?