PICS of shift assembly or removal instructions???
02-05-2008, 12:05 AM
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1993 Mercedes 300SE
PICS of shift assembly or removal instructions???
I need some pics and removal instructions of the shifter assembly, I have a 1992 300SE....I posted an earlier post two or three down from here...i could really use the help guys!!!!!!!
02-08-2008, 09:47 AM
#2
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I had the same problem. Hopefully you'll find the solution is easy. There's a pin attached to the shifter mechanism that pushes a switch when you move the shifter lever from N to D. When you move the shifter lever to 4, the pin is withdrawn from the switch.
The pin is a small cast metal gizmo attached to the shifter bracket - very fragile. I had a machinist make me a small pin, and I replaced the broken cast pin that way.
The parts you need are no longer sold individually, and the entire shifter assembly is $$$ expensive, so here's what I'd do.
Remove the wood surround - this involves several steps, assuming yours isn't already cracked and broken, as many are.
1) Open the ashtray and remove the ash cup. Inside you'll see a small phillips-head screw. You'll need a right-angle screwdriver to loosen it - don't need to remove it entirely. Once the screw is loose, tilt the ash tray lid about 1/2 way closed and gently lift up on the wood face, it will slide up a bit, parallel to the face of the ashtray - the screw fits in a "keyhole" slot, and you should be able to disengage the screw and remove the ashtray face.
2) Close the ashtray and reach down in front of the tray - at the corners of the opening, you should find 2 torx head screws (or maybe allen-head screws) - they point towards the rear of the car, so the heads are more-or-less vertical in orientation. Need to unscrew those two screws. DON'T DROP THEM!!!
3) Remove the trim around the shifter - it just pops up front and back - use a butter knife or something wide and not sharp.
4) Lift the lower wood trim upwards at the front. You may need to pull it back towards the rear of the car while lifting to get to clear. Trying to force it up will only ensure that you chip the wood at the edge of the vertical wood trim.
5) Unplug all the stuff from the switches under the trim - make a note of which plug goes where, as the window wires are all the same configuration.
It is possible at this point that you'll be able to see the switch on the side of the shifter housing - it's white and flat on the passenger side of the assembly.
If you can unplug the connector from the switch, do so and bridge the pins in the connector with a piece of wire or a screwdriver tip. I don't think there's voltage there when the car is running, but be sure to not let it touch anything. I think the wire plugs in from the front.
Go for a test drive - don't reassemble anything yet. The car should shift to drive (5th gear) normally. Remove the bridge and the car should downshift to 4th.
If it doesn't - the problem is with the transmission, not with this control circuit.
I wouldn't recommend leaving the bridge in permanently - there may come a time where you need to disable 5th gear temporarily.
If you're not using the "child" switch to turn off the rear windows, you can probably use that switch to replace the shifter-mounted switch.
You may have to bridge the wires on the connector you'll remove from the child switch, but simple testing after plugging the window switches back in will tell you.
It's possible that the wire that plugs into the 5th gear switch will fit the switch that controls the child-proofing of the rear windows, but not likely. If the pins are of the same size and sex, you can probably disassemble the connector and swap the wires from one to another. Now you can use the child switch to control 4th/5th gear.
If you can't gain access to the switch on the transmission selector, you'll have to pull the console. This is a LARGE pain.
If you've got to take the console out:
1) Remove the radio. If it's the factory radio, you'll need a couple of special hooks to pull it out. You can get 'em online pretty cheap.
2) With the radio out, there are also 2 screws at the bottom of the wood trim - remove those and pull the trim out from the bottom. It hooks in and under the dash at the top.
3) Remove all of the wires from the switches on the upper wood trim.
4) Remove the HVAC control - there are 4 screws. Remove the wires from the control.
5) There are two bolts up under the top of the console where it attaches to the dash - remove those.
6) Open the armrest and remove all of the contents from the bin underneath. The bottom is a false panel - fashion a hook from a small piece of wire and lift it up at the front.
7) You should see a pair of cables attached to a frame. This is the cable that controls the opening of the vent damper to the rear seat A/C vents. I don't remember enough about how it's attached, but you've got to disassemble the cable to the rear vents from the frame. Make a mark of where it's currently attached, as the frame is how you adjust the tension on the cable.
8) The rear a/c vents need to come out - they just snap in - use a butter knife or something like that - top and bottom between the frame and the console.
9) Slide the seats forward and there are 4 caps on 4 torx-head (I think) bolts that hold the console to the transmission tunnel. Remove those bolts.
I think - lift the console from the rear to pull the "legs" out of the carpet, and then lift some more to allow the front of the console to come out from under the dash.
Now you can see the switch on the side of the shifter mechanism - the repair suggestions are the same.
If you want to retain the stock functionality, you'll need to get under the car and remove the cotter key and washer from the shifter lever where it attaches to the rod that goes to the transmission. BE SAFE HERE - NO RAMPS - it's WAY too easy to accidentally pull the car out of park while messing with this rod.
Before removing the shifter mechanism, remove the shifter handle. Push down and turn (I think) to the right and the shifter rod can be removed. It may take considerable force to get it loose - the hardest part will be the pushing down - do this with the shifter in neutral.
Once the shifter lever is released from the transmission rod, there are 4 bolts, plus two cables (one controls the "press brake to shift from park", the other controls the key-out shifter interlock. Make a note of how and where they're attached. Disconnect the cables, plus any other wires you see attached to the shifter mechanism. Remove the bolts and lift the shifter out of the car.
To get at the part which must be repaired, you'll have to take the cover off of the shifter housing, which I think contains the little "shutter" that rides back and forth with the shifter. Be careful - it's fragile.
You should be able to tell once the lid is off, where the pin used to be that presses on the switch to allow 5th gear. You need to get something small back in place of that missing pin. I think the pin I had machined was like .100 diameter (less that 1/8") and about .150 long (maybe 3/32 long).
This was a lot to type and I've really got to get back to work. Send a PM with more questions if you have them.
Good luck.
The pin is a small cast metal gizmo attached to the shifter bracket - very fragile. I had a machinist make me a small pin, and I replaced the broken cast pin that way.
The parts you need are no longer sold individually, and the entire shifter assembly is $$$ expensive, so here's what I'd do.
Remove the wood surround - this involves several steps, assuming yours isn't already cracked and broken, as many are.
1) Open the ashtray and remove the ash cup. Inside you'll see a small phillips-head screw. You'll need a right-angle screwdriver to loosen it - don't need to remove it entirely. Once the screw is loose, tilt the ash tray lid about 1/2 way closed and gently lift up on the wood face, it will slide up a bit, parallel to the face of the ashtray - the screw fits in a "keyhole" slot, and you should be able to disengage the screw and remove the ashtray face.
2) Close the ashtray and reach down in front of the tray - at the corners of the opening, you should find 2 torx head screws (or maybe allen-head screws) - they point towards the rear of the car, so the heads are more-or-less vertical in orientation. Need to unscrew those two screws. DON'T DROP THEM!!!
3) Remove the trim around the shifter - it just pops up front and back - use a butter knife or something wide and not sharp.
4) Lift the lower wood trim upwards at the front. You may need to pull it back towards the rear of the car while lifting to get to clear. Trying to force it up will only ensure that you chip the wood at the edge of the vertical wood trim.
5) Unplug all the stuff from the switches under the trim - make a note of which plug goes where, as the window wires are all the same configuration.
It is possible at this point that you'll be able to see the switch on the side of the shifter housing - it's white and flat on the passenger side of the assembly.
If you can unplug the connector from the switch, do so and bridge the pins in the connector with a piece of wire or a screwdriver tip. I don't think there's voltage there when the car is running, but be sure to not let it touch anything. I think the wire plugs in from the front.
Go for a test drive - don't reassemble anything yet. The car should shift to drive (5th gear) normally. Remove the bridge and the car should downshift to 4th.
If it doesn't - the problem is with the transmission, not with this control circuit.
I wouldn't recommend leaving the bridge in permanently - there may come a time where you need to disable 5th gear temporarily.
If you're not using the "child" switch to turn off the rear windows, you can probably use that switch to replace the shifter-mounted switch.
You may have to bridge the wires on the connector you'll remove from the child switch, but simple testing after plugging the window switches back in will tell you.
It's possible that the wire that plugs into the 5th gear switch will fit the switch that controls the child-proofing of the rear windows, but not likely. If the pins are of the same size and sex, you can probably disassemble the connector and swap the wires from one to another. Now you can use the child switch to control 4th/5th gear.
If you can't gain access to the switch on the transmission selector, you'll have to pull the console. This is a LARGE pain.
If you've got to take the console out:
1) Remove the radio. If it's the factory radio, you'll need a couple of special hooks to pull it out. You can get 'em online pretty cheap.
2) With the radio out, there are also 2 screws at the bottom of the wood trim - remove those and pull the trim out from the bottom. It hooks in and under the dash at the top.
3) Remove all of the wires from the switches on the upper wood trim.
4) Remove the HVAC control - there are 4 screws. Remove the wires from the control.
5) There are two bolts up under the top of the console where it attaches to the dash - remove those.
6) Open the armrest and remove all of the contents from the bin underneath. The bottom is a false panel - fashion a hook from a small piece of wire and lift it up at the front.
7) You should see a pair of cables attached to a frame. This is the cable that controls the opening of the vent damper to the rear seat A/C vents. I don't remember enough about how it's attached, but you've got to disassemble the cable to the rear vents from the frame. Make a mark of where it's currently attached, as the frame is how you adjust the tension on the cable.
8) The rear a/c vents need to come out - they just snap in - use a butter knife or something like that - top and bottom between the frame and the console.
9) Slide the seats forward and there are 4 caps on 4 torx-head (I think) bolts that hold the console to the transmission tunnel. Remove those bolts.
I think - lift the console from the rear to pull the "legs" out of the carpet, and then lift some more to allow the front of the console to come out from under the dash.
Now you can see the switch on the side of the shifter mechanism - the repair suggestions are the same.
If you want to retain the stock functionality, you'll need to get under the car and remove the cotter key and washer from the shifter lever where it attaches to the rod that goes to the transmission. BE SAFE HERE - NO RAMPS - it's WAY too easy to accidentally pull the car out of park while messing with this rod.
Before removing the shifter mechanism, remove the shifter handle. Push down and turn (I think) to the right and the shifter rod can be removed. It may take considerable force to get it loose - the hardest part will be the pushing down - do this with the shifter in neutral.
Once the shifter lever is released from the transmission rod, there are 4 bolts, plus two cables (one controls the "press brake to shift from park", the other controls the key-out shifter interlock. Make a note of how and where they're attached. Disconnect the cables, plus any other wires you see attached to the shifter mechanism. Remove the bolts and lift the shifter out of the car.
To get at the part which must be repaired, you'll have to take the cover off of the shifter housing, which I think contains the little "shutter" that rides back and forth with the shifter. Be careful - it's fragile.
You should be able to tell once the lid is off, where the pin used to be that presses on the switch to allow 5th gear. You need to get something small back in place of that missing pin. I think the pin I had machined was like .100 diameter (less that 1/8") and about .150 long (maybe 3/32 long).
This was a lot to type and I've really got to get back to work. Send a PM with more questions if you have them.
Good luck.
