Auto box problem, w202, crunchy gears

[MadStu]

Hi all, I drove up to Doncaster at the weekend, and as usual the car and auto box Drove the 270 miles smoothly and faultlessly.

When I got there, I had to park on a bumpy field which has broken something in the gear box.

Now when I start the engine, in P it sounds rough. Reverse doesn't work, and it drives (rough) in N. If I put it into D, it tries to move off in 4th gear.

So it seems like the gear lever is out of alignment with the gearbox or something. Is this a common thing, and is it something I can fix myself?

Cheers

 

[Giantvanman]

Sounds to me like something outside the gearbox rather than inside it. From what you describe, it's almost as if the selector mechanism is bent/misaligned or possibly (long shot) the gearbox mounts have broken. The only way to know for sure is to get it on a ramp and have a look.

 

[MadStu]

Thanks mate, looks like you're right.

I got the car up on axle stands last night and had a look.

You'll see from the image below that where the gear selector lever meets the gear selector rod there seems to be too much free play. I would guess there's a bush or grommet (or whatever they're called) missing which I hope is the cause of all the problems.

Is there a parts diagram I can download anywhere?

Cheers