Thanks to your posts, I was able to fix the loose auto transmission shift linkage on my 1993 244. I bought a bag of auto trans bushings from FCP. Can't figure out where they all go but one looked like the right one to put where there was only metal to metal with a lot of play - right where the linkage on the arm out of the transmission. With dirt falling in my face, luckily I followed someone's tip of putting silicone on the part because it still took me about 15 minutes of fiddling and using pliers to fit the bushing in the hole before pinning the linkage back on.

Now here comes the warming part: I foolishly thought that the car would stay in Park, like you can't shift out of Park from inside the car. But apparently you can shift gears from under the car - DUHHH. So at one point, trying to plier the bushing into the arm, I popped it out of park and the car moved. I think I set a record for getting out from under the car. Luckily I had the tires blocked, not like the time the car rocked, fell off the original jack bending it and grinding the rotor sans wheel into the street. So the car only moved probably less than an inch. But it took about 5 minutes for my heart beat to return to normal.
--
1993 240 Classic; 1992 240; 1997 850 GLT; Mitsubishi 4 cyl.

Timely warniing!

I'm swapping the linkage bushings on the 740 whenever I get a free weekeend... and I'm boneheaded enough to have fiddled with shift mechanism once it's all apart! Now I won't! :-)

Thanks a bunch!
-Ryan
--
--------------------------
Athens, Ohio
1990 245 DL 130k M47, E-codes
1991 745 GL 280k (Girlfriend-mobile)
Buckeye Volvo Club

Idiot
--
Max..1989 244 DL 5 Spd., V15 Phase II Cam Bilstein HD, Turbo Swaybars, Poly Bushings all round, Turbo Wheels, Black leather interior, Electric mirrors, LED dash and gauge lights and now NEW ECODES with the turn signals, 1992 black 244 next project

Here's another scary scenario. I left my 90 240 on two front ramps and two jack stands during my extended clutch job. One morning when starting to get to work I found that overnight the jack stands had sliced through the asphalt driveway, tilting enough so that the car ran back down the ramps. Parking brake was on and a log that I placed behind the front wheel stopped the car before it hit anything else.

Now I put the jack stands on a square piece of wood to spread out the weight and lower the car when not working on it.

Brian Mee
Manassas VA

90 240 DL
91 240

Uh, that is one of the reasons I always set the parking brake. I'm surprised how many people ignore the parking brake with an automatic transmission and just expect the transmission to do the job. That handle between the seats is there for a reason!

that the instructions that say "Place car in park and pull on emergency brake" was redundant, so why bother.

Now, thanks to your post, there is NO redundancy.

Actually, for that job, one could use the oil change ramps both on the left side of the car.

Glad you're OK. Sorry that you used a 2-month supply of adrenaline.

Regards,

Bob

:>)

re: "...I foolishly thought that the car would stay in Park, like you can't shift out of Park from inside the car. But apparently you can shift gears from under the car - DUHHH...."

Yes!

I know that you now know this (and will never forget), but for other readers, the mechanisms that prevent you from shifting out of park, whether merely the older "push button" or the later "step on brake pedal and then push the button", are all in the shifter console. But the linkage you were working on is closer to the transmission -- between the transmission and the shift console -- so with the linkage to that console loose or disconnected, you can move the directly shift the transmission without the benefit of those safeties.

Glad you're all right.

The correct method, observed by all automotive professionals, is to place the car on jack stands, and leave the car in neutral, parking brake off. This allows the car to move to the floor jack, rather than vice versa, which would allow the jack pad to slid off if the tiny hard wheels of the jack encounter an obstruction.
If the brake or parking pawl is needed to keep the car on stands, it has not been correctly placed.
I am glad you are OK. Learn from your mistake - and be thankful for a second chance at life.

A couple of jackstands will go a long way toward insuring safety and peace of mind.


--
Don - '81 242ti, '89 744ti

Glad the car didn't bite you! That is one scary thing to have happen. My Wife's brother ran himself over with a late 80's Chevy Caprice on a slanted driveway while working on the shift linkage... popped it out of park. He broke a couple ribs, punctured a lung, suffered severe abdominal bleeding, and broke his hip. Five years later, he still walks with a limp.

Lesson to be learned: RESPECT GRAVITY!

jorrell
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89 244 171K miles, 92 245 241K miles, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup