changing the shifter

I am trying to change my shifter and for the life of me, I cannot remove the old one. Does anyone have any tips on how to do it (short of ruining the old one)? Thanks.

I am assuming you mean the shifter ****, and not the entire shifter. Here are some things that should help. Some shift ***** have a set screw on them, but most OEM ***** do not. The set screw will be up high on the shaft after you have lifted the leather boot up. If you don't see a set screw, then the **** just pulls off. Be careful when you pull the shifter **** off of the shifter. It will take a lot of force, and it will come loose suddenly. You can smack yourself pretty well if this happens. I took two screwdrivers and placed on each side of the shifter shaft. The screwdrivers face in opposite directions so you can hold the handle of one screwdriver and the shaft of the other screwdriver in each hand. Sitting in the driver's seat, place your left forearm on your right knee. With your palm facing up, grab the left side of the two screwdrivers (already on each side of the shifter shaft) with your left hand and the right side of the screwdrivers with your right hand (also facing palm up). You can now use your left knee as a fulcrum and pry the **** off. It may go flying straight up, but you won't knock your teeth out.

im in the process of changing the **** on 01 c4.... have tried numerous times to pull... pulled so hard i thought veins in my neck were going to burst. cant get leverage. saw gota911's post and tried the screwdriver routine but the only piece i can pry up on is made of vinylish plastic. its begun to tear. pulling is also kinda scary as the lever is so thin. im afraid im gonna break it unless i take it straight up - hard to do when you feel no give, eyes bulging and frustrated as hell. my question is do i just keep pulling? is there an optimal gear position - n/1/2/3/4/5/6 for pulling? can i potentially do much damage? any assist will be appreciated.

Keep pulling. If your **** does not have an allen screw on the backside of it (5mm towards the radio side), then you just have to pull. Sometimes they can be stuck on there pretty good. The ones with the 5mm allen will simply slide off once you back off the 5mm allen a little. (and you do have to just pull straight towards the ceiling of the car)

Tim - that is a great tip!

Don't give up and just keep trying. I couldn't get any leverage at first myself, but then I slid and reclined both seats as far back as I could; straddled the center console with one knee on each seat cushion; then grabbed hold of the shifter **** in neutral with both hands and pulled hard. Once you can get leverage, then voila! The shifter will slide right off. As Tim has cautioned, try to keep your face away so as to not accidentally knock your teeth out. Good luck!

Yeah, but if you're straddling the shifter ****, wouldn't you be worried about knocking something else?

Hence pulling it straight-up in neutral, as opposed to in 4th.

Thanks!

The first short throw I ever installed.....I punched myself in the face pulling that damn **** off, lol.

most of OEM shift ***** on C2/C4 does not have screw, but Turbo's ***** does, and it's heavier too. I changed out mine to Turbo's **** and it make 1st to 2nd gear so easy. can't believe little weight make so much different. as they said, just pull straight up hard and keep your face out of the way. you do not want the pattern of 6 speed mark on your forehead when it come loose. Good luck

thanks ucube!!!! your recommendation worked. got on my knees on each seat and straddled the center console - slid off on the first pull, no more than 2 seconds. i couldn't believe how easy it was. i've read many posts on this and most have just said pull hard, and harder still. doesnt work if you're sitting down in driver seat trying to essentially push up. i coulda been the dumb one here but without ucube, i'd still be "pushing" anyway, for all those in the future looking to change/remove shift *****, move seat back, recline to the max, straddle center console by getting on your knees and placing one leg on each seat, pull gently and you're done. thanks ucube and all others who tried to help.

one more thing... i have a sunroof. i opened that too to get max leverage. had my head stuck out the sunroof so i was practically upright when i pulled. i have a coupe which i might not have mentioned.... so cab owners should have a very easy time with **** removal with the top down..

stock basic shift **** has no set screw, Upgraded *****(carbon fiber..etc) do have a set screw. Keep tryin...

Glad I found this thread! But one question about the leather boot. Does it just pull up on a 993 or do you have to remove the center console tray to get to it?

Um super easy.... http://www.bmracing.com/media/products/pdf/67.pdf

On a 993 you don't need to remove the center console tray, just the brass clips holding the boot in place. The instructions at p-car.com for removing the handbrake has pictures showing the location of the clips.