1998 Shifter Removal

[Dodgeyaussie]

After spending much time searching for information on removing the shifter and coming up empty i had to be somewhat of a pioneer and just go for it.

The shifter in these cars was not designed to be removed.

So here, i present to you my experience.

Of course you first need to remove the center console, which is pretty much as the FSM describes.



Gotta remove the two screws from the rear of the shifter itself..



The shifter trim plates are held on by 4 plastic clips each, a little persuasion with a small flat blade screwdriver get's em off. I managed to break one of the plastic tangs.



Now, after removing the two screws you would expect the shifter to just lift off the shaft, but no, there are two wires for the O/D switch to complicate things. The routing of these wires limits the movement of the shifter, and they can't be simply unplugged, oh no, that would make things easy, these suckers are soldered on.



So in order to allow enough movement in the wires to allow you to lift the shifter off the shaft, you need to remove the 2 screws holding the shift lock switch in.



After removing the screws, you can maneuver the switch in such a way that allows you to unplug the switch from the harness and move the switch around to feed the two white wires through enough to lift the shifter off the shaft.

This is where you have just got to grit your teeth, get the wire cutters out and cut the wires, after marking them somehow to ensure you reconnect them correctly. I just wrapped some insulation tape around one of the wires. Make sure you cut the wires in such a way that will allow you enough wire to strip and reconnect via crimp connectors, or your method of choice. I suppose if you're handy with a soldering iron you could solder them back together, or some heat shrink wraps perhaps.



Why do all this you ask? Well in my case, i wanted to try and recondition the shifter plate.



If you have rejuvenated a set of headlights, you'll have no problem doing this. I took to it with some 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper to remove as many imperfections as possible. Once happy with the sanding job, i hit it with some Meguiars Plastx polish, and it came out pretty good i think.

[goody90q45]

Great write up but what a PITA just to remove the shifter plate. There's no screw on the backside of the shifter knob so you can slide it off without going through all this?

Curious what all the white sand is from? Pretty dusty down under?

[Dodgeyaussie]

Great write up but what a PITA just to remove the shifter plate. There's no screw on the backside of the shifter knob so you can slide it off without going through all this?

Curious what all the white sand is from? Pretty dusty down under?

Nope, the wire's have to be cut.

It's cigarette ash, and my mother in law's car. In California

[goody90q45]

Oops. I had my blinders on and only looked at Aussie in your username.