Background (fix is below):
I wanted to try and clean N2 and N3 leads on the conductor plate and do a general inspection, so I removed the transmission valve body to inspect and clean. Now, after talking to a local Sprinter tech, I know I should have just replaced the whole conductor board. Ihave transmission shudder while accelerating and he said a new board is the only way to cure the shudder. (Is that true? My driveshaft is good and I have not done DARF because shudder on deceleration is very minimal.) Now, this is all assumptions but the plastic clip at the end of the selector valve rod broke somehow and this is my best guess as to how it happened. When I went to reinstall the valve body by raising it back into position, the selector valve, which moves much more freely than I would have guessed, slid out of the original position from when the valve body was removed from the trans. It wasn't far out of alignment during the install, but it must have been enough for the plastic end piece to miss slipping over the shift detent plate pin. Then, after I buttoned up the transmission, the detent plate pin was on the outside of the channel it should be resting in and must have smashed a hole through the plastic clip wall when I shifted through the gears.
When I dropped the trans pan again to investigate why the van wouldn't move I was disheartened to see the tiny yellow plastic piece with a hole punched through it. The shift-detent-plate-pin had no where to go but to hulk-smash it's way into the channel of the plastic piece where it belonged.
I started looking online. I found absolutely nothing until, finally, I found a $163 selector rod that had a new plastic clip at the end.
I wasn't sure on how to install that, so my mind imagined the worst: Having to split the valve body halves and deal with a mess of unknown proportions. That could have potentially landed me in the zone of a $900 new valve body and doing that install in sub-freezing weather up to a week later. So I dropped that option. I mean, after all, this is a 10¢ plastic piece! There had to be a better option. So, I called around to local sprinter garages. I was told to go to a Mercedes dealer and have them get me one. NOPE. It wasn't even a part number they could order. Not even the "Valve body selector rod" that I found online could be found in their parts system. So, I decided to see if I could remove the broken plastic clip and fix it myself. Here is how it went...
FIX - with pics!!
Removing the valve body is documented elsewhere and is likely the reason you're in this mess to begin with. So, I'll start with step #1) Remove valve body 'again'.
I used a $2 tin foil turkey roasting pan to keep the mess contained and so I could bring it inside where I could work in a warmer environment (starting to get pretty cold here in MN). I also covered the table well so I wouldn't accidentally get ATF on the table and I would have more room to work safely.
Here are my supplies:
-"JB Weld Plastic Bonder" - I wasn't sure which epoxy to buy, but this was a 'plastic bonder' so I felt like I had a good chance of it holding together inside the trans.
-Acetone (stole the lady's professional 100% acetone nail polish remover to save myself a trip to the garage for the big can)
-Cotton swabs (be careful not to leave fibers behind)
-Couple of small screw drivers
-Scalple (disposable ones are cheap online) or an exacto knife. This is not needed, but I did use it to cut away some extra epoxy that dripped and dried over the channel where the pin rides.
-Safety wire and safety wire pliers.
-Drill and small drill bit (not pictured) I used a 1/16" bit, but I could have used smaller if I had a smaller bit.
CONT'd in next post...
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