350 SL won't go into park...

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Steve - 12 Jul 2006 20:00 GMT

I'm in the process of finding out whats wrong with the
'72 350 SL I just bought. So far, so good. The only somewhat
serious problem is that the transmission won't hold the
car when its in "park". It'll still move. All of the other
selector postions seem to work OK (drive, reverse, etc),
so I doubt that its an adjustment.

Has anyone else had a problem similar to this in a 350 or
450 SL or SLC? Mine uses the early 3-speed automatic.

Steve

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Tiger - 12 Jul 2006 22:35 GMT

It is probably adjustment of the shifter rod. You probably got some freeplay
in the shifter now... reason is missing bushings.

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Richard Sexton - 14 Jul 2006 01:13 GMT

>I'm in the process of finding out whats wrong with the
>'72 350 SL I just bought. So far, so good. The only somewhat
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>Has anyone else had a problem similar to this in a 350 or
>450 SL or SLC? Mine uses the early 3-speed automatic.

The parking prawl broke off. The largrer problem is not that the
car is immobile, but, uh, where is that little bit of metal?

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John Mauel - 14 Jul 2006 05:01 GMT

>>I'm in the process of finding out whats wrong with the
>>'72 350 SL I just bought. So far, so good. The only somewhat
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> The parking prawl broke off. The largrer problem is not that the
> car is immobile, but, uh, where is that little bit of metal?

I can't suggest anything for the OP, but I'll just say it makes my hair
stand on end when I see someone put their car in 'park' on a hill without
setting the park brake first. I have nightmares when I think of all that
weight pressing on that tiny little mechanism in the transmission. A bad
one is Carmela Soprano, parking her E320 station wagon on the sloping
driveway, putting it in park, and walking away. <Shudder>
Who knew they even had hills in New Jersey?

John M.
'95 E320 in the garage with nothing under tension or compression.

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OM - 14 Jul 2006 10:16 GMT

I wonder the same, too. I thought it would put so much pressure on the
motor mounts, driveshaft, gearbox, and so forth.

With my first car, my father implored me to set the parking brake first,
release the brake pedal second, then shift the gearbox into P third. He
said it's cheap insurance against the gearbox failure because the
parking brakes are pretty cheap and easy to replace than the gearbox
overhaul.

I've done that procedure ever since...

[snip]

> I can't suggest anything for the OP, but I'll just say it makes my hair
> stand on end when I see someone put their car in 'park' on a hill without
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> John M.
> '95 E320 in the garage with nothing under tension or compression.

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