E240 stuck in park

[simon winn]

Bonjour all,

I am on hols in south of France staying with friends who have an English reg,d E240 on an R plate that is stuck in Park after a mysterious overheat. (I think car was driven in limp mode and got very hot). Can anyone tell me how to get neutral in order that we can get the car to the local MB dealer? Help with this greatly appreciated. P.S. Car srarts, brake lights working but no manual overide apparent as on my later E320 CDI.

 

[colechelle]

if its got the proper ign key as normal cars and has the older selctor lever, ie, 3-2-1 behind drive the you have to remove the cable out of the ign switch and push the inner cable while have your foot on the brake pedal...

 

[Blobcat]

On a 2001 W210 should it now have the little flap besides the D on the selector that you can push a thin pen down?
Pop a pen in there and the selector lever should move to N, just don't tow it very far as the autobox doesn't like it, onto a flat bed is fine though.

 

[jberks]

if its got the proper ign key as normal cars and has the older selctor lever, ie, 3-2-1 behind drive the you have to remove the cable out of the ign switch and push the inner cable while have your foot on the brake pedal...

They had to do this when the ignition barrel on my c220 failed but I assume that if its started, the brake pedal and key releases have been activated already. If its still not moving I suspect it will need to be towed with the rear wheels raied so they can strip it down and see whats going on.

 

[simon winn]

Thanks for replies - problem is the local MB garagr isn,t interested in coming to car and want,s us to bring it to them - car lives in France and hqs no Euro cover.... The car is the one with 321 behind drive and is a 1997 not 2001 (I know how to do the pen thing on the later cars). Will look at the barrel in the meantime - apologies for grammar - french use different keyboard!

 

[simon winn]

BTW - we just want to move car for now and get it to dealer - arranging to get it moved by towtruck is likely to be very expensive and might happen next year!!! - could I undo the propshaft or is this a dumb idea

 

[OlafMaxwell]

As far as I know undoing the prop shaft solves the towing problem as it disconnects the transmission.

 

[Xtractorfan]

Try putting a steady pull on the gearstick and then hit the top of the gearstick a sharp tap with a piece of wood/rubber mallet .this normally jolts the locking mechanism enough to release the gearstick.....

 

[Dave1946]

Hello. I'm really a new boy, but I thought that I would chip in with my two pennyworth!
I know that there is a small plastic guide which is moulded into the base of the gear selector unit in the tunnel. This breaks off and allows part of the mechanism to mis-align.
The result is that the gear lever can become stuck in the park position. I believe it follows on from having been in 'D' , and to the right into 4. (maybe by accident by jogging the lever)The selector then disconnects from the mechanical shift linkage underneith and can't get reconnected properly because of this mis-alignment. Pushing into 'P' puts the mechanical side of the gearbox into a different selection to what the electric switch in the gear selector unit is set to (it's trying to use the 4,3,2,1 selection instead of the P, N, R, D selection)
I have seen and repaired two like this. In both cases a repair to the plastic base and re-aligning the mechanical parts sorts it.
Wow! Reading back through this it sounds gobblede goop, but I know what I mean!
Anyway to move the care from park: take off the tunnel, (an easy job) remove the 4 screws that hold the gear selector unit, and pull the link rode underneith it back, and thus out of park.
I know it's no help to a chap who was in trouble in France in July, but for what it's worth........

Dave

 

[slapdash77]

raise back end and tow backwards (make sure steering lock is facing forward)