[R129 SL] Removing tunnelconsole - replace fused shifterknob - what not to do- repair roll barswitch -

[Jan Kuylaars]

Thanks the drawings from cliff Sadler I changed today my fused
leather-switching knob with a wooden one.
So Cliff thanks again. So to tell to the list without the drawings, and to
know some little things that are important, I give a brief overview.
Turn on ignition key. Apply the parking brake. Set the shifting lever in the
Neutral or manual in the 3rd gear and switch off the ignition key.
The radio must be removed, also the iron slide, because the air conditioner
and heating control unit is fixed by two handles who are blocked by the
radio slide.
Remove trim around the radio, Insert left en right side removal keys, and
pull out the radio. Remove the antenna and electrical connector- also
removes the radio slide.
When the radio slide is removed you can simply remove the heating unit by
pushing it out off the console with your hand reach in true the radio hole,
and then give it a push from the inside.
Then the two handles goes down to let the unit pas. Like cliff said: remove
the two harnesses from the control unit by switching the middle lever in the
connector to the windshield direction,
And pull the connector off the unit. Afterwards you can connect them in
reverse by switch the lever back to the rear of the car.

Remove for AT the plastic trim ring around selector lever by putting a
little small flatbed screwdriver under it and pull it off straight up. It is
fixed with one ribbed plate on the front, one left and
With two pieces on the side from the as tray. For MT disengage bottom off
shift boot.
Open the cover from the sunglass room in front off the gear knob. Unscrew
the parker in the middle off the bottom inside, and with a small flat
screwdriver bend the left upper part of the grey
Inside cover to the right, and then the right upper part from the inside
covers to the left. Pull out the complete inside cover. Then remove the two
parker screws on the left and right bottom side
behind the inside cover.
Then move the rear off the tunnel console cover to the left and the right
and slightly pull the rear upwards and push the complete cover backwards to
the let the upper part what is fixed with two
Hooks under the AC and dash come downwards and let the complete cover free.
Turn the cover a little to the right, so you can pull of the connectors from
the switches. Don't worry, all the connectors are different and all have a
plastic pin to align. Now you can pull the cover
over the gear shaft and lay it right beneath the tunnel, or easily remove
the other connectors  and putt the cover in a safe place

I take the opportunity now all the switches were free to repair the roll bar
switch, (what stays in on the downwards function, and I must reset by
pushing once up) and to turn every nut and screw to be fastening.
The roll bar switch was easily removed by simply pull of. I take the switch
with me to my electronically repair room and discovered that I can whip off
the plastic button. The pin with the feather stays
In the button. I take out the cupper switching part, and see that on the
lower part there was a small burn in on the contact plates. I simply take a
flatbed screwdriver and scraps a little over the contact points
from the switched parts, so that they are polished and the burning marks
disappears. Then I placed back the 90? contact plate, and pushed back the
plastic button. OK the switch was repaired.

Now the most difficult part of the session begun. I did not know how to
remove the upper side of the gearbox. I did not have drawings or any
comment. So the first fault I made was to forget to remove
The knob of the slide switch E-S. Later on I must find it back between the
tunnel and the box, so first begin with removing that knob and put it away
in a safe place. Then I made a second fault,
I set the shifter in the first gear, so down and then to the right. The
lever is nice standing up. Why this was fault I tell you later.
Then the upper cover from the gear box is fixed by an 90? lever, what is
clipped under the part of the console that's from left to right and is
screwed on the car body just before the as tray.
On the windshield side it is fixed on the same places as the plastic trim
ring is. I take the same flat bed screwdriver and slightly push the 90?
lever to the shifter side, so I could see that the cover came loose.
Then I put the screwdriver between the left click levers and push it firmly
to the left, and do the same with the front click lever. Now the cover came
up. I took a 15 mm old round nut key and a saw,
and saw out 8mm of the front part off the key. Now I could place the key
over the shift lever and try to turn the nut loose. But that would not
happen. The key only opened and slipped over the nut.
I need more power. Then I took my big pipe wrench and with one turn to the
left the gear lever came loose and I turn it out.
Then changing the gear knob with the wooden one, first put it true the upper
gear cover, then screw the nut back, and turn the complete lever back in
place. I took the open 15 nut key and adjusted
The knob in horizontal line with the car. Turn the knob for the last 15?
together with nut key, saved the position .So far OK. I put the upper cover
back in place and assembled the rest of the parts back in their position.
After I was finished I tested everything and discovered that I could not
place the automatic gear in the first gear because there was a plastic piece
of a switch in the way, the hole was on the right side.
The rest was working OK. I put the switch from first gear to the left, so
the lever could go in 1st gear. But then when I would start the engine,
there was no connection between the start motor
And the engine anymore.  At that moment my heart began faster to beat.  I
shifted to neutral and switched the plastic back. Then I started again, and
luckily it works. Then I realised that I made a fault
During the assembling from the gear upper cover. So now knowing how to work,
I dissembling everything within 10 minutes, and with the upper cover removed
I switched the lever all to the right downwards so it came in the hole from
the plastic switch. Then I put back the upper cover, and switched the gear
lever to neutral. First made the test to start. OK it was fine !!!!! That
was the fault I made.
So put everything together again and it was fixed.



With kind Regards,
Jan Kuylaars
Technical manager Rian BV

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