ausecreta

I just want to say how much I thank everyone that posted how to fix the problem of the shifter being stuck in park. I too, had the same problem. It was going to cost me $1200. With the help of all the posting, I and my friend fixed my S500. I prayed that God would bless the ones that gave written instructions and you tube instructions. I'm so grateful!!!

LADY BENZ S500

MY SHIFTER GOT STUCK ON MY 2000 S500 AND I FOLLOWED ALL OF YOUR WONDERFUL TIPS AND REMOVED THIS GODFORSAKEN PLASTIC PART THAT BROKE AND MADE MY SHIFTER LOCK. YES, YOUR SHIFTER WILL NOT BE SECURE, MEANING THAT EVEN IF THE CAR IS OFF (OR ON) AND YOU SHIFT FROM PARK TO ANY MODE, THE SHIFTER WILL MOVE WITHOUT PRESSING THE BRAKE. THIS IS NOT GOOD IF YOU HAVE KIDS OR GET DRUNK A LOT (LOL) I'M JUST HAPPY THAT THE CAR WORKS AND I DIDNT HAVE TO SPEND THE MONEY ON TOWING, AND REPAIRS THAT CAN RUN INTO THE HUNDREDS. **I WILL POST PICS AS SOON AS I FIGURE IT OUT**

envymesukas

Good Afternoon Folks, I appreciate all the feedback on this forum i just encountered the ''stuck in park'' problem last night and needed my car towed. I just finished the entire job although when i took apart the shifter the plastic piece was not broken although i removed it and my car now works perfectly, this now has narrowed it down to the brake light switch ( which i just ordered it today). I will be taking it apart again which now should be a piece of cake and adding the plastic piece back on although i will be adding poxy in the known place where it usually brakes for saftey measures. I am adding the piece back on for the reason that i have 2 small kids and 1 on the way!!.. I did notice that my car's tiptronic system is not working after i did this modification, does anyone know what may have cause this to happen or is it normal you lose that feature upon removing the plastic piece?... Feedback is greatly appreciated

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. 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) up to MiD. They fixed it for me pretty quickly at a good price. They removed the error codes and it works like new. I recommend them.
Don

giancan

I read the poasts, very informative and thank you everyone for your help. I tired the rubber mallet trick and it doesnt seem to work for me. Am i doing something wrong, do i need a small sledge hammer? Any help please?

DonaldBH

Well, I tried the hammer thing and it didn't work for me. Reading all the posts on the subject on different forums, it seems like some people have made it work and others say it doesn't work. I tried a huge sledgehammer. You can't swing it very far inside the cabin. The top of the shifter starts deforming after a while, turning into a mushroom. I say, if it doesn't work after a few pounds, get the car towed. You can save yourself a lot of grief including more damage when the sledgehammer slips.
If you live in the bay area, see my post below about a shop that will fix it for a reasonable price.

giancan

Thanks Donald, appreciate your help. Unfortunately, i don't live in the bay area, but would definaltely go to your guy. Will give it a try, then tow if needed.

jfriesz

This seams to have a timeline of 7 years then it breaks, I have a 2005 and was told I had to buy the whole shift housing at $700 and the MB service had to install it because the module had to be reprogramed. Total would have been over 2K. Going to bypass the switch.

ibeforreal

It would really be interesting to see a total number of all the folks that have experienced the "stuck in park" problem. I bet the number reaches into the thousands.

giancan

Well i eneded up having to install a new gear shift at the dealer and yes, it cost me $2000. Having said that, the dealer gave me the old gearshift back and i took it apart at home, the famous little plastic piece that seems to cause problems was intact, which led me to think i had some other problem?

homemark 88

the part for the S class can be found after market OME from worldpac called AT shifter repair kit 220-267 98 24 APA/URO PARTS OR 220-267 99 24 APA/URO PARTS once you remove the broken one you can match the pichter as the MB dose not have part number for this

ANGMED

That innocent, inexpensive looking little gear box plastic part, in reputation and damage to the MB brand, due to rampant complaints on networks and radio about MB autos, turned out to the most expensive parts MB ever used in their models. Almost as damaging to the brand as the ninety fifties racing accident, and nobody died.

During the early two thousand I vividly recall Lou Dobbs talking about it in his 6 PM program. Ironically, the part was not used in all models, perhaps as a result, still today, of all luxury automobiles sold in USA, MB has the lowest resell value of German cars. Before I'm crucified in the thread, this is NOT my personal opinion, allow me to repeat, NOT my opinion, as a typical neurotic male, "love my Benz any way".

trombone

I agree and it is shameful that MB never admitted any responsibility for this surprisingly poor mechanical design.

The plastic blocker does have a part number PP 220 267 319, no help however, the dealers do not sell any part inside the shifter block.

To those who have doubts if the plastic piece was the problem, just looking at it can be misleading. I does not have to be broken apart, it stops working when it has a nearly invisible crack.
You can only be sure it was not the culprit if it does not budge whne you test it by hand...

ibeforreal

Next to the "blackening out of the instrument cluster" this has got to be the one of the most notorious problems for the Mercedes. Too bad the NTSB didn't force a recall on the shifter.

vmystikilv

yeah, they should have. Mines quit on me in front of sears parking lot. 2 weeks after I bought the car. 15 dollars worth of tools out of there though and 2 hours later I was shifting out the parking lot. Luckily I didn't have to climb under the car to loosen the gear shift linkage.

Triman2008

Okay, so I've been through this thread and I have the same problem....only thing is, the plastic piece in the shifter box is NOT broke. I am running out of options here, and I don't feel like replacing the entire shifter box for $730 from the dealership. Anyone have any ideas? I have read something about the brake sensor ro what about the solenoid that operates that plastic piece? Anyone ever replace that?

Also, does anyone know if I replace the entire box, do I have to have it reprogrammed with my VIN?

E

vmystikilv

Maybe its just destructiveness in me. Rip it out anyways and never worry about it again. Now its just like my old 85 500sec and its good enough out the way that it never gets accidently hit in anyway

P.S. about the programming, I don't know about the new one but if you turn on the car with the old one with it unplugged the idiot light will come on & that you have to reset at the dealer

trombone

If the plastic is not cracked or broke you need a new brake switch or a new solenoid or both.
Position the ignition to 3, keep your palm on the shifter knob and push the brake.
If the switch and the solenoid work, you should feel (even hear) a weak little knock.

Replacing the brake switch is straighforward and takes 10 minutes.

The solenoid is in the box so you have to remove and open it for getting the solenoid.

You did not mention if you hand tested the black palstic. It happened to many before, that it looked OK, but fell apart or showed a gaping crack when forced by hand.

Triman2008

Trombone, thanks brotha formthe insight. I need to check the plastic piece next, I looked at it but never took it out. When I check that out, then I can move to the next issue if thats not it. Thanks again.

opt3

Although my 2003 S430 is now locked in park for the second time in 16 months, and having read and searched this thread, I'm not sure whether I have -- or had -- the same problem. Dec. 2011 it happened first, and my mechanic said it's a dealer issue. Dealer only charged $92.12 to repair it though. The receipt reads, "found clip missing from rear part of transmission linkage, installed new clip on transmission linkage." The part installed was: No. 000-994-43-60, and described only as, "Lock." The charge for the part was $3.12, the balance being labor of $89.

Now, I'm locked in park again, and after reading this thread was about to order the replacement part for the problem the thread discusses. But I realized the difference between what apparently caused my problem before and what is discussed here, and have talked to dealer service about it and was told needing the part they replaced before is indicative of something wearing out in the gear shift box, although sometimes replacing "that clip" works but sometimes not at all, but the fact that it has recurred is indicative that the gear shift box will need to be replaced sooner or later, and he obviously believe sooner. I haven't taken the car in yet.

As old and voluminous as this thread is, I was hoping my previous cause for being locked in park might be mentioned, but it apparently hasn't. Surely the first time it was not the the same broken-plastic-part-in-the-shift box issue discussed here, because dealers don't fix that and, even if they did, it would take more than $92.00. Any ideas what I had the first time, and how it might relate to the issue discussed here? Thank you.

trombone

It is hard to see how can a "missing clip" make the shifter stuck in park, it is a pure mechanical tab that securely connects the pin of the shifter arm to the transmission linkage. And indeed i have not seen any reference to such case either.

Also hard to understand how can it be missing, but whatever happened, it is surely unrelated to to the black plastic, which is inside the box.

The linkage can be inspected if you go under the car.

An it is quite possible that now it is the time for the black piece to go...

Shops do not open the box for repair. The only options are DIY repair, or change the whole box.

opt3

With my history of the dealer having installed some "clip" in the transmission linkage 1.5 years back for only $93 to cure the same symptom, I returned it to the dealer to diagnose the reason I'm stuck in park exactly as before. They say the part they replaced earlier is intact, but alas, that the shift box is shot. And that the prior problem and the current one are simply unrelated. So I'm towing it home to do it myself. I am going to replace that pesky plastic piece, to preserve the safety feature of having to engage brakes to shift from park.

I see the part is marketed in two sizes for my 2003 S430 base model: Either 5 mm or 11 mm wide. Looks like there's no way to know, before disassembly, which you need. One seller indicates the size difference is "a running change and not defined by a specific year or chassis. Inspection of the existing plastic lever in the shifter is required to order correct part." Another seller includes both sizes in a "kit," so you would have one left over. Pricing is all over the place, from $40 to $200 for one, but I note the metal ones are a bit pricyer.

Also, as mentioned, it comes in either plastic or aluminum. Is there a distinct preference? Is there a maker or seller of the part to avoid? Thanks.

trombone

I had the same dilemma with choosing the correct pivot size so I decided to follow the footprints of others and using high strength epoxy I glued the original blocker.

Not having much confidence in the plastic which already failed once I also glued two aluminum splints onto either side to strengthen the piece. This required some easy manufacturing.

My earlier posting #198 in this thread gives more details on my adventures and some unexpected difficulties...

No matter if you decide to buy or not a new piece, it is certainly a good idea to watch the referred video on youtube.

Good luck

Skylaw

If you're going to consider gluing it, I strongly recommend JB Weld. Really tough stuff!! Available at home supply stores.

tusabes

I say just take it out completely . Cars were able to shift out of park without depressing the brake in earlier years , and we were never stupid enough to carelessly do it