I am referencing the hat shaped plastic bushing in the shifter not the bushings in the shifter rods.

This is on a manual tranny car.

Can I replace the bushing without removing the shifter from the car?

I have always thought that the shifter had to be removed from the car to do it.....now that I need to do it and have no reason to replace the shifter I am thinking it makes sense that this should be able to be done without removing the shifter.

Tom W

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Nobody knows the answer to this?

Come on now guys! (and gals).

Tom W

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

If I recall, you have to disconnect the shift rods at the shifter end from under the car, which is not that hard. Do you already have a new bushing? Your old bushing has probably almost disintegrated, so you may not know what it looks like. Mine was a tophat shaped plastic piece with a closed end and a spring inside pushing on the closed end. In my case the end of the bushing broke out and the spring came out. The bushing I got from Fastlane was different, hat shaped with an open end, although it was the right diameter. That would not work for my shifter, so I ended up cobbling something together, which did work.

Thanks for responding.....

But I am wondering if you can answer my question about changing the bushing without removing the entire shifter mechanism from below?

Tom W

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

bump

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I'm not really sure, but just this weekend I removed the shifter from a parts car we were disassembling. I can't see how one could change that bushing without removing the shifter. You can't pull it out very far without disconnecting the rods. You can just disconnect the rods at the tranny, if it helps any, to get the shifter out.

And, IIRC , I just used a piece of like 3/4" PVC pipe for my "new" bushing- works fine 4 years later.

Rick

__________________
80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

well, mines an auto but my mechanic replaced it for free as a courtesy, so it cant be that hard i guess!

__________________
1991 300 D 2.5 Turbo, 220k
also in the family:
1981 240 D 185k
1991 350 SD 185k
2006 S 500
2005 SLK 350

If you disconnect the links at the underside of the shifter you will be able to move the shifter up enough to replace the bushing. I.e. it is removed from inside the car, not underneath. Hope that helps.

I am pretty sure Tom W knows that the shifter is installed on top of the tunnel, but his choice of words infers otherwise. I think he was wondering if it can be fixed without disconnecting the shifter at all. IIRC, it is a pain to get the clips on the shifter from the bottom when they are way up in the tunnel.

Rick

__________________
80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Well, thanks for the vote of confidence but it has been years since I did one myself and the last time my indie did one the shifter was out of the car, so I had it in my mind the shifter came out from below.

It makes more sense this way though. I will probably remove the rods at the front end then and pull it up enough to do the replacement.

Thanks, guys.

Tom W

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

You can try it first from the top. There MAY be enough slack in the rods to do it with the rods in just the right combo without disconnecting them. If the shifter wasn't set INTO the console so much, it wouldn't be so hard.

__________________
80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Tom

I have never changed those bushings but pulling the shifter is easy, you wont have any trouble, 4 bolts. When you get it out you will see a hole in each vertical shifter arm which you can use too put a pin through and check too make sure the rods are adjusted right after you reinstall the shifter.

__________________


1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

There is room to replace cap without unclipping rods. I did it myself a couple of years ago. Maybe 6 months later I lost a rod retaining clip while driving. I did have to do some twisting of the unbolted shift assembly to mount the cap, coincidence, I don't know.

__________________
1981 240d
Newport,RI