Shifter O/D wires preventing shift knob from coming off - help (1 Viewer)

[00N8]

I'm trying to replace the shift surround with a new piece and I can't for the life of my figure out how to pull the damn shifter knob off. I have it taken apart and the O/D wires are still connected to a white plastic part that I can't pull through and out in order to get the shifter off. Any thoughts? I've searched for several variations of remove shifter, remove o/d button replace shifter etc and haven't found this before but have seen other threads where people have pull them off or replaced them with newer shift knobs.

Thanks in advance.

 

[lexi4darin]

00N8-

There's no help. You cut the wires, remove the handle and do what you need to. Once your done, then you soldier the wires and button it back up.

 

[00N8]

That sucks, at least I know. Thanks! Guess I need to go pick up a solder gun and some shrink tubing.

 

[2000UZJ]

00N8-

There's no help. You cut the wires, remove the handle and do what you need to. Once your done, then you soldier the wires and button it back up.

Seriously? That sucks, I would of thought there would be a connector up there. I guess I'm not replacing my shifter bezel anytime soon

 

[lexi4darin]

2000UZJ - just solder the wire. It's really no big deal. I'll look it up in the FSM again but last time I was in there I spent 60 minutes looking for what would "loosen" the wire enough and found nothing.

Snipped the wire. Remove shifter. Reassemble. Solder wire. Button it up. Done in 10 minutes.

 

[2000UZJ]

2000UZJ - just solder the wire. It's really no big deal. I'll look it up in the FSM again but last time I was in there I spent 60 minutes looking for what would "loosen" the wire enough and found nothing.

Snipped the wire. Remove shifter. Reassemble. Solder wire. Button it up. Done in 10 minutes.

How many wires? For some reason I keep imagining a 16 pin connector under there lol.

 

[lexi4darin]

No no no!!! More like a 1 .


If I remember right (and it's been a while since I took my shifter off and cut/soldered wires) but more like a 2 or 3 wire harness. This harness merely connects the "OD" feature to the transmission ECU. Simple OFF/ON functionality.

In fact, remembering back, this might have been a harness that I used as a soldering lesson opportunity with the GF. It was that easy.

 

[dnp]

Old thread, but I wanted to revive it. I read the original posts and we (almost) followed the advice (helping a frind work on his new-to-him 100)..........fortunately, we worked out a way that makes more sense (to me, anyway) Unfortunately, I didn't think about coming back to this thread to make comments until we had everything back together, so I have no photos at all. Crap! In any event, here's what I recommend (NOTE: when I say forward, I'm referring to the side toward the front of the truck, and rear, toward the rear of the truck. Tools needed: phillips screwdriver, a thin tool, like a thin flat screwdriver, a pick - like a dental pick):

1. Turn the key to on, depress the brake, and move the shift lever into Neutral

2. Remove the console / shifter cover (the part that houses the seat heater switches, pwr/2nd start buttons, etc.): Open the cup holder, remove the cup holder divider, and press against the front side of the cup holder while pulling up. This whole console cover - from the upright part of the console to the dash - is just held in place with spring clips, so it should just pull up (you could pull up on the cup holder cover, but be aware that you could pull up hard enough to break it)

3. Once you get the back of the console cover up, reach underneath the cover and push up on each seat heater switch. They will push through the console cover and make it much easier to remove the wire plug from each of them - and they're color-coded: black to black, and brown to brown (also, once you grab them, you get the benefit of finding out how many soft drinks got spilled into the console by the previous owner(s).) Do the same removal process for the Pwr / 2nd switch.

4. Remove the two screws in the front of the leather shifter handle. Pull upward on the leather handle, taking note that the shifter button will likely shoot out. No big deal, as both parts are big and unlikely to be lost. Set the button and the big spring aside.

5. Now, follow the shifter shaft all the way to the floor, and you'll find sheathed wire (the sheath is gray on this truck) coming out of the bottom of the shifter shaft. It runs around the rear of the shifter console, and it terminates into the forward end of a white plug on the passenger side of the shifter console. Now, it's easier if you get in the passenger seat at this point. Find the white plug, push the button on the male section of the rear of this plug and pull it rearward. Then, on the female side of the plug that's still attached to the shifter console, get a very thin tool and pry the forward "arm" away from the shifter console while pulling this female part of the plug rearward. This will release the female section from the shifter console where you can get to it.

6. On one side of the female part of the plug, there's a piece that looks like a cover or a door to get inside the plug. Use one of your small tools to pull up on that cover, noting that the cover only comes up, but does NOT appear to come off. By pulling up on it, it appears to allow the movement of some pins on the wires you're about to remove.

7. Once the cover pulls up, note the position of the two shifter wires going into the back of the female part of the plug. Once the position is noted, look down into the plug and taking your pick, push the small plastic tab away from one of the blue wires. While you're holding this tab away, pull the corresponding wire out of the plug. NOTE: I don't know if it matters how the pins are ordered to go back into the plug, but out of an abundance of caution, we marked the wire, the hole from which it came, and position of one of the wires, so we would be sure they went back in the same way they came out.

8. Once both wires are removed, you can pull up on the shifter handle while carefully feeding the wires into the bottom of the shifter shaft. Carefully pull all of the wires through and out of the top of the shaft.

9. When reinstalling, just slide the wires back down into the shaft (may require a little twisting and pushing, but they should emerge from the bottom of the shaft). Also, the red, angled plastic piece on top of the spring coming out of the shifter shaft (all of this will make sense when you're at this point) will need to be positioned where the angle is low on the driver's side and high on the passenger's side. Be sure to carefully pull on the shifter wires as you're lowering the shifter handle back onto the shaft. We had a hard time seating the handle at first but discovered we hadn't pulled on the wires enough and I had ended up with a kink in the wires that wouldn't let the handle seat.

10. Run the gray-sheathed wire around the back of the shifter console, and using your marked wire as a guide, insert the proper wires into the proper holes in the back of the female section of the white pug, and push them in. When they're fully seated, they will click and can't be pulled out. Now reverse the removal procedure and you're done.

I hope these instructions are clear. Sorry for the lack of photos, as they would have been a big help.

I don't know how many of you feel the same way we did, but it was worth a little more effort to avoid cutting / splicing wires. I realize it only benefits the O/D function, but I like for things to stay the way they were built.

 

[Slickspawn]

Removing the leather shifter handle for replacement.

Bubbly shifter indicator trim?

Hacks cut!

 

[Keith Mercier]

2000UZJ - just solder the wire. It's really no big deal. I'll look it up in the FSM again but last time I was in there I spent 60 minutes looking for what would "loosen" the wire enough and found nothing.

Snipped the wire. Remove shifter. Reassemble. Solder wire. Button it up. Done in 10 minutes.

Did you have any problem with O/D working after snipping and re-soldering? I did the same thing but now O/D will not engage even though the light comes on. Any thoughts?

 

[Lowbudgetlc100]

i think o/d reset to on every time you shut off and then restart your car. once you get going, and you turn it off by pushing the button and push it again to turn on.

 

[Keith Mercier]

i think o/d reset to on every time you shut off and then restart your car. once you get going, and you turn it off by pushing the button and push it again to turn on.

Thanks I tired that, even unhooked car battery as well. The light comes on and off, but the O/D does not engage.

 

[alohaflyer]

Man I tried this.. snipped the wires and got it all ready to go... then I bumped my hand while reassembling the switch and the parts of the switch went flying.. one even hit me right in the forehead! And now I'm screwed... I can't find the little wire piece that goes between the white part and the switch button... and the spring is MIA too... bummer... now I gotta order a new switch from cruiser parts... $59... ouch.

 

[alohaflyer]

Old thread, but I wanted to revive it. I read the original posts and we (almost) followed the advice (helping a frind work on his new-to-him 100)..........fortunately, we worked out a way that makes more sense (to me, anyway) Unfortunately, I didn't think about coming back to this thread to make comments until we had everything back together, so I have no photos at all. Crap! In any event, here's what I recommend (NOTE: when I say forward, I'm referring to the side toward the front of the truck, and rear, toward the rear of the truck. Tools needed: phillips screwdriver, a thin tool, like a thin flat screwdriver, a pick - like a dental pick):

1. Turn the key to on, depress the brake, and move the shift lever into Neutral

2. Remove the console / shifter cover (the part that houses the seat heater switches, pwr/2nd start buttons, etc.): Open the cup holder, remove the cup holder divider, and press against the front side of the cup holder while pulling up. This whole console cover - from the upright part of the console to the dash - is just held in place with spring clips, so it should just pull up (you could pull up on the cup holder cover, but be aware that you could pull up hard enough to break it)

3. Once you get the back of the console cover up, reach underneath the cover and push up on each seat heater switch. They will push through the console cover and make it much easier to remove the wire plug from each of them - and they're color-coded: black to black, and brown to brown (also, once you grab them, you get the benefit of finding out how many soft drinks got spilled into the console by the previous owner(s).) Do the same removal process for the Pwr / 2nd switch.

4. Remove the two screws in the front of the leather shifter handle. Pull upward on the leather handle, taking note that the shifter button will likely shoot out. No big deal, as both parts are big and unlikely to be lost. Set the button and the big spring aside.

5. Now, follow the shifter shaft all the way to the floor, and you'll find sheathed wire (the sheath is gray on this truck) coming out of the bottom of the shifter shaft. It runs around the rear of the shifter console, and it terminates into the forward end of a white plug on the passenger side of the shifter console. Now, it's easier if you get in the passenger seat at this point. Find the white plug, push the button on the male section of the rear of this plug and pull it rearward. Then, on the female side of the plug that's still attached to the shifter console, get a very thin tool and pry the forward "arm" away from the shifter console while pulling this female part of the plug rearward. This will release the female section from the shifter console where you can get to it.

6. On one side of the female part of the plug, there's a piece that looks like a cover or a door to get inside the plug. Use one of your small tools to pull up on that cover, noting that the cover only comes up, but does NOT appear to come off. By pulling up on it, it appears to allow the movement of some pins on the wires you're about to remove.

7. Once the cover pulls up, note the position of the two shifter wires going into the back of the female part of the plug. Once the position is noted, look down into the plug and taking your pick, push the small plastic tab away from one of the blue wires. While you're holding this tab away, pull the corresponding wire out of the plug. NOTE: I don't know if it matters how the pins are ordered to go back into the plug, but out of an abundance of caution, we marked the wire, the hole from which it came, and position of one of the wires, so we would be sure they went back in the same way they came out.

8. Once both wires are removed, you can pull up on the shifter handle while carefully feeding the wires into the bottom of the shifter shaft. Carefully pull all of the wires through and out of the top of the shaft.

9. When reinstalling, just slide the wires back down into the shaft (may require a little twisting and pushing, but they should emerge from the bottom of the shaft). Also, the red, angled plastic piece on top of the spring coming out of the shifter shaft (all of this will make sense when you're at this point) will need to be positioned where the angle is low on the driver's side and high on the passenger's side. Be sure to carefully pull on the shifter wires as you're lowering the shifter handle back onto the shaft. We had a hard time seating the handle at first but discovered we hadn't pulled on the wires enough and I had ended up with a kink in the wires that wouldn't let the handle seat.

10. Run the gray-sheathed wire around the back of the shifter console, and using your marked wire as a guide, insert the proper wires into the proper holes in the back of the female section of the white pug, and push them in. When they're fully seated, they will click and can't be pulled out. Now reverse the removal procedure and you're done.

I hope these instructions are clear. Sorry for the lack of photos, as they would have been a big help.

I don't know how many of you feel the same way we did, but it was worth a little more effort to avoid cutting / splicing wires. I realize it only benefits the O/D function, but I like for things to stay the way they were built.

This is an excellent write up for swapping out the overdrive O/D switch and changing your shift lever! Thank you for this. I completed it today and took some pics to add. Enjoy! Aloha.

 

[chrisratz]

7. Once the cover pulls up, note the position of the two shifter wires going into the back of the female part of the plug. Once the position is noted, look down into the plug and taking your pick, push the small plastic tab away from one of the blue wires. While you're holding this tab away, pull the corresponding wire out of the plug.

Is this the plastic tab that's right next to the blue wire, or is it the plastic tab on the other side of the plug? I'm trying both and the wires don't seem to want to come out.

And sorry for reviving this old thread!