It might be cold but...

[Adski]

...I'm pretty sure my car shouldn't be stuck in W. It is though! On my 1999 E280 petrol.

Right, over the weekend, someone (not me, honest!) messed about pressing buttons and pressed the W/S button. Trouble is, despite copious amounts of swearing, prising and WD40, it's still stuck in W - the switch does move freely though.

Having read these forums I'm beginning to realise that it's a very bad thing. Apart from being quite sluggish and moving off in 2nd, apparently it gets very hot and heat = very bad. Apparently.

So, what do I do? Whether it's relevant to the problem or not I don't know but regardless of the switch being in W or S the W is always lit up.

Please help me - I like kickdown but using it every single gear change is getting a bit tedious now!

Many thanks

Adam

 

[C220GJS]

Have a look at this thread from the other forum;http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=6722&highlight=gear+selector; it should help solve your problem.

 

[Adski]

I found that post about 2 minutes after I made mine and I was afraid someone was going to point me there.

That looks far, FAR too complicated for my clumsy hands! I'm getting rather panicked now. As a stopgap, I've taken to moving off in 1 (manually) to try and take some of the strain off. I'm sure that can't be too good either.

Thanks for your help - if I build up the courage to have a go, I'll come back and let you know.

Thanks again,

Adam

 

[Adski]

Ok, DISASTER!!!!

I had a crack at this tonight and, well, the only thing that did crack was parts of my gearbox - namely, the switch itself and whatever workings were underneath it (including a spring).

The thing is, I can now see underneath the switch because the switch isn't there anymore but I can't see what it switches! If I could jam a screwdriver in there and knock it into S, that'd do me but all I can see is (snapped) clear plastic that lights up when the lights are on.

I think it's fair to say that whatever hope I had of fixing this problem has quickly evaporated so my options, way I see them are:

1. Buy a new gear selector box, thingy and try and fit it myself. (I know, laughable!)

2. Take it to Mercedes (I think this is one of the more stupid options)

3. Take it to a garage (is this too specialised?)

Can anyone advise. I should warn you that I am very, VERY poor. My petrol bill for last month came to 600 quid (it also came as quite a shock!) and it's pretty much wiped me out. But this problem is worrying me - I don't want to do permanent damage to the box. Is there any way of knocking it into S? Failing that, what am I looking cost wise for the above options?

Any advice would, as always, be greatly appreciated. I might have to buy the person that solves this for me a pint or three.

Please help!

Adam

 

[C220GJS]

Sorry about the problem,your best bet would probably be an indie specialist, if your put a query in here;http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=31546 ;someone may have a suggestion,good luck.

 

[television]

If you can get the switch out you can solder a link onto the rear of the switch so that it only has the one mode , you cannot damage the box with this switch

 

[television]

Re thinking on this it may only be a closing switch and it may have broken in the mode that you want

 

[philharve]

Interesting thread

Hi All

An interesting thread but it has left me wondering why the W/S switch had failed in the first place. Is this a problem that it likely to happen to similar switches or has this particular switch been disassembled before and not reassembled correctly.

My W/S feels clunky and very solid and it is my impression that it is unlikely to fail. However, I wonder how much abuse it would withstand? Surely rocking the switch forth and back with light finger pressure wouldn't make it fail?

REGARDS

Phil

 

[Parrot of Doom]

To engage W mode the switch pushes on a vertical plastic rod that pushes against a sprung metal contact, thus closing the switch.

If its broken, then it should now be in S mode since no contact is being made. The spring is used to push the plastic rod back up underneath the switch.

The switch fails because the plastic rod gets stuck in the body. A bit of fine sandpaper and light oil stops this happening again.

 

[Adski]

Thanks for all your help an advice. However the switch breaks normally, it's completely messed up now after my intervention and definitely, DEFINITELY stuck in W. When it stuck originally, the switch still felt solid and felt it was switching fine. Now it's very loose and doesn't switch anything - but that's my fault!

When I said I was worried about damaging the box, I meant by it being stuck in W all the time. There was a post on here that said the box got very hot and this caused a problem. To allieviate this, I'm moving off in 1 all the time just in case and manually changing as best I can.

I can't see any metal contacts under the switch but it's conceivable I've broken this off. I can try and take a picture of it if it would help with any diagnosis but I can see this ending up in a new selector box thing.

Arrrghhhh!

 

[Adski]

Well, I'm as shocked as you are but....IT WORKS!!!

Yesterday, I booked the car into a garage who wanted 40 quid plus VAT just to tell me what the problem was. I know what it was - it was stuck in W!

So, unhappy at the prospect of being 40 quid down and no better off I decided to go at it with a screwdriver again armed with the reasoning that I couldn't make it worse than it already was. Ordinarily, logic like that would get me into lots of trouble but for once it paid off.

I prised the switch off again (I don't bother doing it the proper way - just go in with a screwy) and looked at the broken mess under it. I still couldn't see the metal contacts that people mentioned and I was really puzzled as to how the switch actually did anything. Then, at the very top (so just under where the "W" would be on the switch), I saw a black piece of plastic in a small rectangular shape about 5mm by 3mm. I poked it and it moved, so I prised it up with the screwdriver and felt a slight movement. "Hold on" I thought - "that feels like it's just slotted into 1st!". So I pressed it down and I felt the gearbox change, pulled it up (and removed it completely), moved off, and it was instantly noticable that it was back in first.

I removed the plastic thing completely because a) I didn't want it to fall back in and stick in W again and b) I have absolutely no intention of wanting it, or putting it in W ever, EVER again!

Can I just say a big thanks again for all the help and advice? You'll never get rid of me now that you've helped me!

Thanks again Gents - very, VERY much appreciated.

Cheers,

Adam

 

[Adski]

And having re-read the posts, this is exactly what Parrot Of Doom said but I was too stupid to realise!

I'm such an idiot sometimes!

Thanks again.

Adam