Once you have the shift knob removed pull up on the front plastic bit for the cupholder to pop the front off.
Now pull up on the back next to the armrest button to pop the back off.
Carefully pull it over the hand brake
Disconnect the wires for the mirror control, the DCCD control and the DCCD switch. Please note that yours will look a little different as I relocated my DCCD control to be next to the switch.
Unsnap the shifter boot.
Pop up the back of the plastic shifter surround.
Slide the plastic bit backward about 1/2" and remove it. Do be careful to not snag the boot on anything.
Looking down into the center console you will see a metal plate and rubber dust shield. Note that the dust shield is in the car and under
the metal plate. The dust shield has nipples that go through holes in the metal plate. Also, note the oreintation of the plate. The diagonal corner
goes in the upper left. The plate is held in using 4 10mm bolts.
Remove the 4 bolts.
Remove the plate.
Now get under the car. Please note that it is a REALLY bad idea to go for a romp in the mud a couple of days before you do this.
We learned that lesson the hard way.
Once you are under the car you will need to remove the mid-pipe (AKA second cat). You can do this with it in place, but removing it gives you a lot more room to work with.
Reach up and pull back the dust shield for the o2 sensor connector then
disconnect it. The push tab is at the top, and if it's your first time disconnecting it it will be a little stiff.
Then, using your needle nose pliers squeeze the plastic tree holding the o2 wire to the back tranny brace and push it free.
Unbolt the mid-pip from the down-pipe, and the resonator pipe. Unbolt the hanger and remove the mid-pipe.
Once you have the mid-pipe removed you will want to remove the tranny
bracing. Roll your jack under the car, and using a block of wood to
between the jack and the tranny, support the tranny so it does not
fall.
Remove the 4 14mm bolts from the sides of the rear tranny cross brace.
Remove the 2 17mm bolts from the sides of the front tranny cross brace.
Remove the 2 14mm nuts holding the tranny "spine" to the tranny saddle.
Remove the entire cross brace and spine assembly and set to one side.
Now you're ready to work on the shifter.
Using your needle nose pliers remove the cotter pin and washer for the reverse lockout, and slide the cable end off the pin.
Using a 14mm wrench unbolt the front shifter stay. The bolt will not pull out completely due to length. You just need it free of the nut.
Slide the washer back toward the head of the bolt, and pull straight down.
Take note of the washer orientation. There is a tab at the top that fits into a notch at the top of the stay.
Now above the front stay is the u-joint where we will be changing the bushings.
Reach up and grab the u-joint. Twist it and pull back so the car is in 2nd gear.
Now, look up through the fork for the stay and look at how the linkage arm attaches to the control rod. There is a roll
pin holding it in place.
Take note of this roll pin. It is actually comprised of two pins, one
inside the other. It is not necessary to tap out both pins
individually.
Instead just tap out the outer pin, and the inner one will come out with
it.
Using your 1/4" drift punch and hammer tap out the roll pin. It will take a little bit of work.
We've found that if you use a larger punch or a long extension to start to punch until it gets flush with the assembly it will be a little easier.
Once you have the pin ejected put it to one side.
If you have trouble with the roll pin or just don't fee like
punching
it out here is an alternative method:
Use a 14mm socket and wrench to remove the nut for the front half of the
joint.
Now slide the bolt out of the joint.
You may have clearance issues with the bolt hitting the tranny housing.
If that happens push the tranny to the passenger side of the car to get
the clearance that you need.
Some folks have had great luck with this technique and others have not so
your milage may vary on this one.
One person recently made note
that if you drop the jack holding the tranny so it is supported by
the engine and driveshaft you will have enough room to get the bolt
out.
Now follow the stay arm all the way back to the rear shifter stay. It's above the driveshaft.
Using a ratchet with a long extension remove the 2 12mm bolts holding it in place and set aside.
Slide the u-joint forward so the car is in 1st or 3rd, and then slide the u-joint assembly back off the rod to free it.
Carefully, pull the shifter assembly down so as not to scrape the plastic reverse pull and pull the shifter out of the car.
Now, go to your workbench.
Looking at the shifter assembly take a note that the tranny side fork has a bump.
Note the orientation of this bump as it does affect reassembly.
If you screw up and take it apart before noting direction the bump goes to the top.
Also note that the u-joint is not symetrical. Using something make a mark on the u-joint to get the orientation correct when you reassemble.
If you screw up here's the orientation. The tube that runs horizontal goes closer to the top. The tube that runs vertical goes closer to the right.
Remove the bolts using 12mm and 14mm wrenches.
The bolt for the horizontal portion uses a 12mm nut and bolt.
The bolt for the vertical portion uses a 12mm nut and a 14mm bolt
Once you remove the u-joint you will end up with this.
If your bushings were as worn as mine the sleeve bearings will just fall out.
Remove the sleeve bearings (the metal bits in the middle of the bushings).
Take a look at them as they are different sizes.
Use a screw driver and pop out the old bushings.
This next part is important for the 04-05 guys! (06 guys check below)
Now take your new TiC Shift Linkage Bushings and go to the kitchen.
Since they are so much stiffer than stock you will need to soften them a little to press them into place.
Take the bushings and throw them into some pretty hot water. It doesn't
need to be boiling, but at least steaming.
Let the bushings sit in the water for a few minutes to let them soften a bit.
While waiting inspect the sleeves and make sure there are no burs on the edges that will tear the bushing.
Now, take one of the bushings and one of the sleeve bearing and go to your vise
Place the end of the sleeve into the chamfer leading into the bore of the bushing.
Using your vise slowly press the sleeve into the bushing.
Once you have the sleeve pressed into the bushing so the end of the sleeve is flush with the outside of the bushing grab the u-joint.
Put the bushing and sleeve into the correct side of the u-joint and put into the vise.
Slowly press the bushing with sleeve into the u-joint.
Now take another bushing from the water and line it up to press over the sleeve and into the u-joint.
Put in your vise and press the second bushing into place.
Repeat for the other side of the u-joint.
06+ guys
You do not need to use a vise to press these
in. They should slip in with moderate pressure from your hand.
Now apply some grease to to the outside faces of the bushings and reassemble the u-joint with the forks. Use 10-11 ft-lbs. of torque. We know this is higher than spec,
and makes it really tight, but that's ok.
It is very important to use a good thick grease. Especially for the 06
guys. We suggest using wheel bearing grease as it works well, and resists
washout.
Shaun of the Jax Mod Squad has made the suggestion of not completely
torquing these down at this point.
Instead get them fairly tight, but still a bit loose as this will help
with reinstallation.
Once you have the linkage reattached with the roll pin torque these bolts
to final spec.
The clearances under the car are tight, and it is difficult to see the
ends of the bolts so if you think you can't get to them on the car
just do it the traditional way.
Be sure to use the mark you made on the joint center to put it back together in the correct orientation.
Be sure the tranny side fork has the bump at the top.
Now take a look at the rear stay.
Notice how the mount is shaped.
You want to make sure the flat side of the stay goes down and the open side goes to the top when you put it back in car.
If you install it upside down it will rub on the driveshaft.
Now take the assembly and get back under the car.
Take the front of the linkage arm where the u-joint is and turn it so the tranny side fork, where it connects to the control rod, points down
so it is pointing at the floor when the shifter assembly is held level.
Turn the assembly vertical and thead the linkage arm up into the car and slide it onto the tranny control rod.
Now lift the assembly into the car being careful not to scratch the plastic.
Push the rear stay into place and lightly thread in one 12mm bolt to hold it into place.
Now, looking up where the roll pin goes line up the holes and slide your 1/4" punch into the hole.
Using the punch twist and pull back pulling the car into 2nd gear.
Being careful to keep the holes aligned you now have to tap the roll pin back into place.
We have found that the easiest way to do this is to use a socket extension to hold the pin so you can get it started.
Take the pin and put it in the "cup" of the extension.
Once you get it started switch back to your punch and finish tapping it in.
Feeling around the top about 1/16th of the pin should protrude out of the top.
Now, slide the front stay back into place.
Slide the washer over so the tab fits into the slot.
Tighten bolt to 23.6 ft-lbs. (according to service manual)
Slide reverse lockout cable over the reverse lockout pin on the tranny.
Put washer on pin.
Insert cotter pin into hole and make sure it will stay by squeezing the open end together a little bit.
Now, go to the rear stay, and insert the other bolt. Tighten both to 13 ft-lbs (according to service manual)
Get tranny crossbrace assembly and lift into place.
The 2 14mm nuts on the saddle get torqued to 25.3 ft-lbs.
The 2 17mm bolts get torqued to 103 ft-lbs (according to service manual) with a tolerence of 14 ft-lbs.
Honestly 103 makes me nervous so I only do about 80 or so, but it's up to you.
The 4 14mm bolts get torqued to 51.6 ft-lbs (according to service manual).
Reattach mid-pipe.
Plug in o2 sensor.
Snap plastic holder for o2 sensor into place.
Get back in the car and pull rubber boot up.
Take metal trim bit and slip over nipples of boot.
Insert and tighten the 4 10mm bolts (this can sometimes be a pain due to the rubber boot) to 5.5 ft-lbs (according to service manual).
Slide center console down over shifter being carful of the boot, and snap in place.
Snap boot around lower silver plastic part on shifter arm.
Get cupholder place part, and reconnect mirrors control, and DCCD controls.
Slide over hand brake handle.
Snap into place.
Safely lower car, and clean up.