Help Dr Evil, Got a head of myself Options

[damnfiknow]

Feeling like I didn't need to watch video again on my second transmission, I jumped in. BAD DECISION. Got out of synik right off. Pushed down 5th gear selector before I wiggled out the shifter console thingy. Had taken it loose and had removed the nuts holding the tail piece. Started to pull up gear stack and spotted my error. Now, the shifter console won't slip/wiggle out. How do I get back in netrual, ie get the 5th selector up or whatever I need to do to continue?

PS Will have my DVD player playing ALL the time for now on.

[Richard Casto]

It looks like Jim it taking good care of you and steering you in the right direction. I do want to throw out another option if his suggestion doesn't work (and what he is saying is what you should try first and that should work).

It's tricky to do, but if you support the lever on the end of the shift console (the part at the end of the rod with the ball on the end), you can use a punch to remove the pin that holds the lever to the rod. Once removed, you should be able to remove the console and then snake the console rod out of the transmission even if it is in gear. It basically just gives you more wiggle room than you have with the console assembled.

The trick to doing this is to make sure the lever is supported by something other than the console so when you use the punch, you are not putting a load on the console. Don't just bang on it with the load being taken up by the rod, console and transmission.

I had to do this just the other day on a transmission that was stuck in gear and would not shift back into neutral.