Please help. Can't take gear shifter off! (~noob)
 

Hey guys,

Maybe I'm just dumb, but I bought a nice Momo shifter but I can't figure out how to take the OEM shifter off. Can anyone give me some advice?

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there is a great write up on this step by step in the premier member section...

The short skinny is that it takes a LOT of torque to break the stock shift knob free, and you need to apply counter torque to the shaft to keep from damaging the tranny.

try this here

http://www.clubtitan.org/themes/NFSU...U-forum_07.gif

nice link.. the shifter is hard to take off.. it took me a little bit to get over the fear of breakin anything.. but it can be done :)

Woot! I got cited!

Let me emphasize the 15 inch monkey wrench I used. It was gentle enough not to damage the shifter, and it gave me so much torque that it was relatively easy to get the knob off. Definitely no sweating or grunting.

The shaft doesn't need all that much counter-torque to stay in place. But you will damage the tranny if you don't hold it in place with some type of vice or clamp.

By far the hardest part is dealing with the stupid leather and the new shift boot.

I am thinking about doing a how-to writeup with pics when I help B-Unit (bryan) install his shift knob. Unless he did it already...I dunno.

i like the strap wrench better for removing the knob.

I talked the dealer into removing it for $30.00. If they break it, they repair it! Peace of mind..........

I lose more faith in 350Z owners every day when seeing a post like this. You realize you just spent $30 to have a guy man handle your knob off in 2 minutes. That works out to $900 an hour in case you wanted to know. Please people take pride in your car, do the work yourself, never let a dealership touch your car unless it is 100% neccessary.

Wow, yeah. +1, haha.

I took mine off last night and replaced it in about 5 minutes. I'll gladly take anyone's shift knob off and I'll do it for $25, :D.

Well, some people don't have the tools to do this kind of stuff, basic as it is. I'm with you on the fact that the dealer pretty much doesn't touch my car these days, but it's ok that he paid a few bucks to have this done. The alternative (an f'd up tranny) is a far worse prospect. Just providing an alternate perspective.

I agree it's not bad to have the dealer do it but it's pretty simple. Just use some common sense and most of all be careful! I treat my car like my baby and when I adjusted my clutch down and put on my plenum and my popcharger and my new shift knob I took my sweet time and made sure I did everything right. Do a little research and take great care with your car. You'll learn so much more by doing it yourself, even simple things like this.

Doesn't have the tools eh. That $30 would have bought him a nice set of Craftsman pliars at good ole Sears. I bet that the dealer would have a better chance of ruining the transmission then an informed forum member who has read the install guides here. I'm just saying that please give yourself a shot at installing something before paying the dealer. If you get stuck use the Interweb or PM some of the members on this site. There isn't much we haven't done before and wouldn't be willing to help someone with.

Agreed. I guess it's just a case of "everyone's different". ;)

One of your neighbors will almost always have the tools you need.

I personally usually borrow them from my work.

Need lots of torque? :confused:
I took it off with my bare hands.

While I don't doubt that this is possible, it still took a little bit of effort with the 15 inch wrench for me. I think since the factory uses lock-tight thread lock glue or something to that effect, some people's knobs may be on there tighter than other ones.

After I broke it free using the wrench, I finished unscrewing it by hand. And from that point, it was VERY resistant to turning...I had to really use some muscle. BEFORE it was broken free, I don't think mine was movable with my bare hands. I'd still recommend using a wrench, we're talking about 10x more torque at least to help you get the knob off.