Auto Trans packed up?

[JamesL]

Just finished a 2 hour run home from out of town: The last 45 mins in nose to tail traffic - 45 minutes= 2.5 miles

To get my car into my garage I have to be dead straight, so the routine is to swing up to the door, go into reverse with opposite lock and then drop into drive for the final approach

All is well tonight, until I try to engage reverse. Nothing happens. No different feel to the stick, just no "engage" of reverse

So we try park, and neutral. And we're still in Drive.

As we're now inches away from a solid wall, we kill the engine

And still no joy either with transmission, and now of course, engine won't start as drive is engaged. Car is pushed into the garage.

I have full play on the stick, runs up and down the housing nice and easy. But no change to actual gears.

My guess is, this is serious. Hopefully, I'm horribly wrong and so any thoughts as to obvious things to look for would be much appreciated. I'm kinda hoping that the trans just overheated and once cooler will work properly. But then again, I also buy lottery tickets

[Cees Klumper]

Sounds like maybe the linkage between the shifter and the transmission came loose ?

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[n/a]

Something similar happened to me a few months ago....except that it was at the mechanic, he was driving my car from his back yard to the front door to hand it to me.
I am not technical, but there is a plastic ring that keeps the linkage between shift and transmission that, with age, will brake or so. It is no big deal, but you will need to put the car on a lift to have it fixed, the limkage opening is right underneath, right in the middle....Basically, if this is it, the towing will cost you more than the effective intervention.
It took him around 15mn. (and a tip on top of the tune up)

Fabrice
Silver 1971 280 SL
New York City

[JamesL]

Thanks - hope you're right. It doesn't sound terminal!

Two things.... only picked it up from service this morning[!]

and, fabrice, you're right (whatever the problem). Getting the car out of the garage - very narrow entry and up a very steep ramp - and towed across London will be pretty darn pricey.

Ah well, at least she is safe downstairs and I am not stuck 60 miles from home.

[J. Huber]

Hey Tosh. If it is a busted shift bushing, I can add a couple things. There are two bushings for the automatic and they are readily available at least here in the U.S. for about 3 bucks each. Be sure you state yours is an automatic as the manual uses a completely different set of bushings.

The bushings reside at the top and bottom of a rod (linkage). The lowermost one is reachable from underneath the car. A hoist would make things easier but you can get to it "the old fashioned way". The uppermost bushing is trickier.

My experience went like this: it was the lower one that crumbled and I could actually see the linkage had popped off the shaft on the Trans. My upper bushing was fine. Putting the new one in was a little challengeing because the bushing was hard as a rock -- you may need to drop it in boiling water to soften it up. Hope this helps.


James
63 230SL

[ja17]

Hello Tosh,
I agree, it's probably the shift linkage bushing. When you get the new one, run hot tap water over it for a few minutes and it will become very soft and pliable (easy to install).

Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio

[hands_aus]

Same thing happened to me and was the lower bush on the linkage rod.
Part number is 112 268 01 50
It cost $19.20 cents each in Australia, so it will be about $5.00 USD
You can push the link rod back on the bracket of the transmission by just lying on the ground with a torch and reaching under.
It should stay on long enough for you to move the car around.

Bob (Brisbane,Australia)
RHD,1967 early 250 SL, auto

[JamesL]

Thanks gents

Got underneath the car, and found that the linkage - vertical to horizontal - had come to bits.

Dropped the transmission into park, put the linkage back together and the car will now start.

Haven't tried putting it in gear yet  - I have that to look forwards to. Simple fix for me, and now requires a simple fix at the garage - someone who can get under the car a little easier than me!

[France]

Hi Guys. Seems like this is a common problem.  Same thing happened to me in Sarasota on exiting a restaurant as dark was falling.  Put it in R, linkage comes apart, engine cuts out.  I was rescued by a nice older gentleman who called AAA and bribed them to tow me home.  Next day fixed it with a paperclip under instructions from our race mechanic, Steve Smith at TwinCam.  Drove it down to his shop for a proper (gratis) fix.  It's one reason I bought this car--it's fun, and it has simple mechanics.  Now stop me from buying that red XJS!!!

Trice
1968 280SL US, signal red/bl leather, auto, kinder

[France]

Hi Guys,

Just dusting off this old discussion of the automatic tranny linkage. Just went under the car, put it into Drive, and drove down to my friendly wizard at Twin Cam in Sarasota.  Last time it was the lower bushing that had crumbled, and he lathed a new one, popped it on, and tied it up with Lockwire for good measure.  This year the top one crumbled, and that's a little harder to reach.  The hole in the floor pan is just too small to reach through, so we pulled out the shifter, dragged the link up and held it with a large wrench while making a new Teflon bushing.  Popped it on, tied up again with wire, and away we went for $75.  Why Merc ever engineered such a silly solution and not a metal bolt is a mystery maybe one of you can answer.  Anyway, it's a good idea to inspect both your bushings for cracks so you don't have this happen to you!


Trice
1968 280SL US, signal red/bl leather, auto, kinder

[TheEngineer]

Ah - La vie est dure sans Confiture! Paul Braq designed this car and this German engineer put in Plastique bushings for revenge! Was ist los: Es hat 40 Jahre gehalten!

---------------------
Added by ADMIN to aide those with only English as a language...the French means "Life is difficult without jam"

and the German: (free translation) "What are you complaining about, it lasted 40 years!"
 
Richard M, fluid in several languages...(corrected by Trice)
---------------------
Added by the engineer: Plastique is an explosive (I have a weird sense of humor)

[Douglas]

I just went through this as well. My 34-yr old bushings lasted 105K and only cost a couple of dollars to replace. Not too bad in the scheme of things.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[Richard Madison]

A little off topic but a friendly warning for those may be as dumb as I am...

The manual tranny (280SL) was slipping slightly in the upper gears...but I was "too busy" to take care of it...so I kept driving while the slipping got worse.

A few weekends (and about 150 miles later), I went to see a private collection of cars in NJ (collection of Ray Catena, the Big Dealer.) I mentioned to Klaus D who was there that my clutch was slipping. Klaus  suggested that I take care of it right away. Klaus always gives good advice.  

While on the way back to NYC, the car stopped shifting...could not be moved in any gear...dead as a doornail...

Luckily I had AAA auto club 100 mile towing...they came with a flatbed and carried me and the Brown Beauty from NJ to Queens NY where for $750 and new MB "Clutch Kit" the car is back to normal. There is still some question about whether I'm back to normal  )

Morale of the story: when the clutch STARTS to slip, fix it...don't wait.

Richard M, The Procrastinator

[France]

A little reinterpretation, s'il vous plait.  The French translation is, "Life is hard without jam (sweetie)," and the German initial phrase is "what is wrong"?     And I agree--what other car can have its tranny fixed for a few bucks?  These are sooooo elegant!

Trice
1968 280SL US, signal red/bl leather, auto, kinder

[rwmastel]

quote:Originally posted by 280SL71

Luckily I had AAA auto club 100 mile towing...

Richard,
FYI, MB offers road side assistance to all MB owners regarless of age of car.  The individual service is not free, but you don't pay an annual fee.  If you belong to the MBCA, it provides free towing for its members.

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420