armeng83

okay a week ago my shifter was having a problem getting out of park, one morning i found it completely stuck in the park position and no matter what i did i couldn't get it. I have read that its a plastic piece that breaks and gets the shifter stuck in park and that one way to get it out of park is to hit it on top of it with a mallet. Im pretty good with cars so i have decide to fix this problem on my own. I have tried many time to get it out of park so that i can remove the center console by hitting it on top of it with a mallet but it wont budge. i have found a pin that i think by removing it will release the shifter but im not sure and i dont want to mess anything else up. Can somebody please tell me is there anyother way to get it out of park and is this pin the key to it.

Dan Morgan

Wow!, I don't think beating it to death with a mallet will fix your problem, but it may stetch your repair bill a page or two.
First off, what year is your vehicle?
Second, it may be that you have a brake pedal switch that is acting up. (If your benz is like mine, it will have it.)
Get more info before it costs you some major money!

redcoupe

The only thing you can do is pull the shifter back and beat it with a hammer. Somtimes it takes a couple hits. The pin your seeing in front, is a lock pin, it keeps the shifter assembly from being removed while the shifter is in park.

biker349

also check your brake lights to make sure they are working. if they're not, replacing the brake switch may solve your problem.

armeng83

i have check the break light and it is working and the car is a 2001 cl600

DerekLMartin

Just because the brake lights work doesn't mean the switch is good. These switches aren't just a two wire switch for brake lights. They are usually have a separate circuit that goes to the shifter control module to release the park lock. The brake light portion of the switch may still be good but the portion going to the shifter could still be faulty.

Melk63

Hi, You can do the job yourself. I have. First read the posts in W215 S-class forum in general How-to section to see how the job is done. The only difference with W215 CL600 is removal of the centre console. There is a recent thread in W215 CL section where I explained how to remove the centre console in a W215. The job should take 2-5 hours depending on your DIY capability. No special tools needed.
Mel.

armeng83

i know the process to remove the center console and how to get the shifter out and to fix it, the only thing is i cant get the shifter out of park to slide the center console out, that's my problem. is there another way to get the console out without putting into drive.

biker349

only way i've read is to pound the top of the shifter while pulling back. remove shift knob first.

armeng83

how many times do i have to say this, i have tried that but it wont budge people is there another way or do i result in sawing off the handle

Melk63

When I did mine, I had already managed to move the shifter out of park by wiggling the lever back and forth violently quite a few times. That allowed the centre armrest to move completely out of the way. If you cannot get the shifter out of park, you may still go ahead and try to get the centre armrest freed up by taking all the holding screws out. If you then lift the rear end of the armrest and reach underneath and disconnect all the wires you may be able to move the armrest out of the way far enough to get to the gear selector box. It may be worth a try this way if you have not tried it.
Mel.

brewmastr

I am a mercedes technician, if you cant get it by tapping it with a hammer you need to bend the shifter rod, remove the shifter knob and place a jack handle over the rod and bend it backwards,this will allow you to get it apart. As far as being able to do this yourself, you need an SDS to remove transport protection and activate the ESM which will need to be performed by a shop with adequete equipment.

DonaldBH

I have a 2003 SL500 and had the problem. It started out just occasionally sticking and got worse until I got stuck in a parking lot. Pounding on the shifter did not work for me. I live in San Jose, CA and can recommend MiD Auto Services in Sunnyvale. AAA towed it for me (slid it up on a truck bed) to MiD. They fixed it for me pretty quickly at a good price. They removed the error codes and it works like new now. I recommend them.
Don