I've lost 5th gear and reverse - help!

[lordluvitt]

Hello,

Took a day out of the office today as the weather is nice (finally!) and found that the gearstick was very clunky whilst changing up into, and down from, 5th gear. Drove for about 100 miles like this and about 5 miles from home, the car lost drive. The revs went up so I checked the gearstick and although it was still in the 5th gear position, it was loose. Changed down to 4th - no problem. 5th gear just wasn't there at all!

Got home and went through all the gears with the engine running and discovered that reverse has disappeared too. When I changed into reverse there was a clunk sound as if something had dropped off/come undone.

The car is a 1998 C180 (W202 I believe) with 200K on the clock. The cars history is all motorway with full MB service history. No motorway driving since I bought it in March. Everything else runs/works like a dream considering the milage.

Any ideas what this could be? Does this sound terminal or could I repair it (competent DIY mechanic) or should I get my local indie garage to look at it?

 

[wireman]

You may find that the gear selector bits on top of the gearbox have fallen apart. not the easiest to access but abit of ingenuity and the ubiqutous Haynes book of lies may help.

 

[lordluvitt]

You may find that the gear selector bits on top of the gearbox have fallen apart. not the easiest to access but abit of ingenuity and the ubiqutous Haynes book of lies may help.

I shall take a look, thank you. Do you know of a supplier of gearbox parts (and not the main dealer)? My local GSF only goes as far as oils when it comes to 'boxes.

 

[jberks]

always start with the dealer. They're often not as bad as you anticiapte and at least you've a better chance of getting the right bits. Given that MB make their own boxes, chances are that the dealer will be the only source anyway.

 

[lordluvitt]

Thanks for your help chaps. In the end I called the AA as the gearstick became jammed in the 5th gear position. Luckily it was a quick and easy fix. The grub screws that hold the gear selector rods had worked loose and the 5th/reverse gear rod had fallen out - hence the lack of gears. The AA guy simply repositioned the fallen rod, tightened the screws and all is now well.

Hurrah for those Knights of the Road.

 

[television]

Thanks for your help chaps. In the end I called the AA as the gearstick became jammed in the 5th gear position. Luckily it was a quick and easy fix. The grub screws that hold the gear selector rods had worked loose and the 5th/reverse gear rod had fallen out - hence the lack of gears. The AA guy simply repositioned the fallen rod, tightened the screws and all is now well.

Hurrah for those Knights of the Road.

And harrah for you to post back with the outcome