I really can relate to this never ending string of problems. Lately, after spending almost half the value of the car having it fixed (windows not going down or up, fuel pump on its last legs, carburators widly desynchronized, spark plugs, timing off, 2 dead spheres etc...), I was foolish enough to believe my own Shadow II had become 100% trouble free. Yeah right. Two weeks ago I took it on a 80 mile drive to visit a friend. It poured all the way, I mean like the first day of the deluge. I was kind of glad there was no leak, the wipers worked fine and the car behaved wonderfully. Lo and behold, after spending the day there, I was about to leave (fortunately it was not raining anymore), after having started the car, switching it to "D", the car refused to budge. Same with "R" and "I" and "L". I turned the engine off. Started it again. Switched to "D"... nothing went back to "P" ... and the car move forward ! Switched to "D", nothing. Tried "R" ... the car started to move but not in reverse. By that time I was starting to sweat profusely (in the midst of winter that is). Tried again and again. Finally, "R" put the car in reverse. I backed it up out of my friend's garage. Then swithed on "D" ... nothing. Tried "I" ... yesss! It worked. I made a quick prayer, switched on "D" and it started to move forward again. I drove the 80 mile with a knot in my stomach. I arrived safely. I tried the next day and then a few days later, to no avail. It still behaves randomly. Not as badly as before, not in a wicked way, just in a gently random way. Sigh. Water probably got in somewhere and messed something up. I do not know. Back to square one. Best way to start 2026 ?!
Yes water is likely the culprit . If you take the steering column shroud off (two flat-head screws under the wheel - put the gear selector in the bottom position to wiggle it off) you can see the contacts going to the selector box (on the side of the gearbox). Buzz the wires out using the drawings in the workshop manual. It's going to be a contact rather than the gearbox or selector unit. Maybe one of those body plug/sockets?
But to your point, yes it is one thing after another. The responsibility I feel is weaning me off my SY - I'm going to (try and) sell it and buy a Merc (a W126 S-Series). Least it's easy to find specialists to work on these. Mercedes trained mechanic here on the Island charges €30/hour! Best of all, the Mrs. thinks we should get one, so when it goes wrong I can blame her :-)
I really can relate to this never ending string of problems. Lately, after spending almost half the value of the car having it fixed (windows not going down or up, fuel pump on its last legs, carburators widly desynchronized, spark plugs, timing off, 2 dead spheres etc...), I was foolish enough to believe my own Shadow II had become 100% trouble free. Yeah right. Two weeks ago I took it on a 80 mile drive to visit a friend. It poured all the way, I mean like the first day of the deluge. I was kind of glad there was no leak, the wipers worked fine and the car behaved wonderfully. Lo and behold, after spending the day there, I was about to leave (fortunately it was not raining anymore), after having started the car, switching it to "D", the car refused to budge. Same with "R" and "I" and "L". I turned the engine off. Started it again. Switched to "D"... nothing went back to "P" ... and the car move forward ! Switched to "D", nothing. Tried "R" ... the car started to move but not in reverse. By that time I was starting to sweat profusely (in the midst of winter that is). Tried again and again. Finally, "R" put the car in reverse. I backed it up out of my friend's garage. Then swithed on "D" ... nothing. Tried "I" ... yesss! It worked. I made a quick prayer, switched on "D" and it started to move forward again. I drove the 80 mile with a knot in my stomach. I arrived safely. I tried the next day and then a few days later, to no avail. It still behaves randomly. Not as badly as before, not in a wicked way, just in a gently random way. Sigh. Water probably got in somewhere and messed something up. I do not know. Back to square one. Best way to start 2026 ?!
Yes water is likely the culprit . If you take the steering column shroud off (two flat-head screws under the wheel - put the gear selector in the bottom position to wiggle it off) you can see the contacts going to the selector box (on the side of the gearbox). Buzz the wires out using the drawings in the workshop manual. It's going to be a contact rather than the gearbox or selector unit. Maybe one of those body plug/sockets?
But to your point, yes it is one thing after another. The responsibility I feel is weaning me off my SY - I'm going to (try and) sell it and buy a Merc (a W126 S-Series). Least it's easy to find specialists to work on these. Mercedes trained mechanic here on the Island charges €30/hour! Best of all, the Mrs. thinks we should get one, so when it goes wrong I can blame her :-)
Happy New Year...
Yes, this really was the first I had heard of this.
The Mrs.