1969 280SL Gear Lever Linkage Bushing HELP

[280SL]

Hello There,

The other day, the nylon bushing came off from the bottom of my automatic 69 280SL. Afterwards, the car was starting fine but when you moved the gear from Park to 4, the car would not move. The gear shifter was loose. I managed to put the nylon bushing (which was cracked) back on by getting underneath the car (middle)then inserted in the rod. Luckily I was able to put it on 4th and drove off to my mechanic who is close by. My mechanic immediately replaced it with a new bushing. I came back home and everything was working fine. This morning, I started the car and warmed it up for a while. I backed up from my garage then I put it on Park. As soon as, I took my foot off the break, it made a noise and moved forward. As if it's not in Park. The Reverse works fine and the other gears 4th, 3d & 2nd. The problem is only when I put it in Park. It makes that spring like noise and moves forward as soon as I take off my feet from the brake. I just wanted to clarify that once in Park it doesn't move like it is in 4th of course.. but it just moves forward with making that spring like noise. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Albert email: prodigy_us_2000@yahoo.com

[J. Huber]

A similar thing happened to me a few years ago. Bottom bushing disintegrated and the linkage popped of the spindle. Once I got the new one on, I recall that I needed to move the reverse/starting lock mechanism (on the firewall) to have it work right.

James
63 230SL

[waltklatt]

Albert,
I would now look at the transmission mount to see how bad it looks.  A worn mount will cause the bushing to pull apart, accellerating it's demise.  Then once you put a new bushing in the rod is out of alignment-not the right length.
Walter
1967 220SL-diesel

[280SL]

James,  
Where is that reverse/starting lock mechanism (on the firewall)exactly located.  How do I move it to make it work right for Park?
As I mentioned earlier,  I had the nylon bushing back in it's place and everything works but when I put it in P.
Thanks,
Albert

[merrill]

just a tip,  I you decide to change both bushings, I found it easier to unbolt the shifter from inside the car and pull the shifter and linkage up into the car.

that way I could install new busings, then after installing the shifter I put the shifter in 2?  what ever pushed the linkage most forward and then it was easy to connect the linkage to the tranny with out dropping the cover etcc....

matt

Matt
Austin Tx
66 230 sl - "white"
78 300 D - Blue
98 C230

[J. Huber]

Hey Albert. It is a kind of rectangle thing. It is on the driver's side not far from the fuse box. It has a cable running up from underneath the car. I merely had to move the lever up a smidge, and it worked fine.

James
63 230SL

[Abbas]

Last year I changed the bushings shown in the picture. The gear shifting feeling improved considerably and I got a much better feeling of the gear. I ordered the bushings with a small circle clip stoper that holds them together check if you still have yours.

Download Attachment: Automatic Linkage.jpg
28.62 KB

Abbas

280SL W113 1969 Ivory
E280 W124 1995 Silver

[280SL]

Thank you all for your input.  My machanic was able to address the problem by adjusting the rod where the bottom bushing sits on.  Thnks again. Albert