Stripped shift knob. General tool know-how needed.

DasUberEdward

So my shift knob recently stripped and now I'm in a situation where the knob will spin on the bolt that leads down to my gear box. This is incredibly annoying and just a bit dangerous because there are times when i'll attempt to grab the shift knob (it's spherical) and it will just spin right out of my hand resulting in a missed gear.

What can I do to solve the problem?

=====O

The part that is in red is the male connector that is stripped. Is there any easy fix to the situation? I would like to shift without having to grip onto my shift knob for dear life.

Shogun

What kind of car is it? Have you had anyone look at it? Could be a possible cheap quick fix at a dealer or autoparts store.

DasUberEdward

It's a 96 Ford Probe 2.5L

There is absolutely no after market or dealer support when it comes to local places. Probably the craziest thing i've ever gotten myself into.

Edit: From a drastic standpoint I could switch out the entire thing with a short throw shifter but that's a lot of work for a little problem.

Daenris

check out a junkyard. Try to swap it out for a working/non-stripped shifter.

DasUberEdward

Daenris wrote: »

check out a junkyard. Try to swap it out for a working/non-stripped shifter.

I was afraid of that. So there's nothing I can do without swapping the whole shifter out?

Daenris

Well, I'm not entirely sure without seeing it. Is the connector in red part of the shifter, part of the knob, or a separate piece attached to both? Are you sure it's the connector that's stripped and not the threads on the knob?

I'm not sure how much trouble it would be to swap the shifter as I've never done one on a manual transmission, but swapping out the shifter on an automatic escort is fairly quick and painless.

Edit: Didn't find a detailed howto, but found a brief description for swapping the shifter on a manual probe and it still seems fairly painless.

jack the car up so your able to comfortably get to the bolt (12mm iirc) that connects to the shift linkage from the shifter itself. go inside the ca, take off the shift knob and the rest of the center console. peel the boot off the base of the shifter and then take a pair of snap ring pliers and take the metal snap ring then the white nylon snap ring. now just use a small screwdriver or something of the sort and take the top piece off (it covers the top of the ball). pull up on the shifter to take it out. now for installation, install in reverse!

amateurhour

DasUberEdward wrote: »

Daenris wrote: »

check out a junkyard. Try to swap it out for a working/non-stripped shifter.

I was afraid of that. So there's nothing I can do without swapping the whole shifter out?

nope. you need a new shifter, which is a pretty cheap part.

I used industrial paste glue, kind of like a plastic, to fix mine

edit: you can also try a new shift knob, but they're pretty standard, so I doubt it would fix it

Mushiwulf

It seems like it would be possible to drill a hole through the connector and shaft and stick a bolt and nut combo through to keep it from spinning. Without seeing the actual shifter, I can't say if this would be easy or even recommended though, but it is something to think about.

ETA: Amateurhour's paste fix makes me think you could use some kind of epoxy to hold the connector in place. Something like J-B Weld.

amateurhour

Mushiwulf wrote: »

It seems like it would be possible to drill a hole through the connector and shaft and stick a bolt and nut combo through to keep it from spinning. Without seeing the actual shifter, I can't say if this would be easy or even recommended though, but it is something to think about.

ETA: Amateurhour's paste fix makes me think you could use some kind of epoxy to hold the connector in place. Something like J-B Weld.

that's your best bet.

unless he has an industrial drill/bit he's not going to be able to put a hole in the shifter.

Seriously though, that ford shifter is a really, really common part. Like an under $40 part definately, probably closer to $20

DasUberEdward

I'll look into using some sort of epoxy. There's no way i'm getting a hole through the shifter so either i'll try the epoxy method or deal with it til I can get around to switching the whole thing out. Maybe my next oil change.

Daenris

You could also try to grab a universal shifter knob replacement. Many of them don't have threads, but just have screws/bolts that get tightened to keep it in place over the shifter. Would be less permanent than epoxying it on.

AtomBomb

I'm not sure if I'm understanding this right, but I think I had a similar situation. I bought a truck and while it was on the lot but before I picked it up someone stole the knob off of the shifter. Shady dude at the dealership just gave me $20 and said I should just pick up a new one at Pep Boys. I did that, but it never fit right. It was a little loose, and it would turn on the shaft (knob, shaft, there sure are a lot of sexual words for car parts). I took the knob off, stuck a little bit of JB Weld in it, screwed it back on and made sure it was exactly where I wanted it. The next morning it was solid. Lasted for at least 6 years until I sold it. I'm guessing it will outlast the truck.

amateurhour

Daenris wrote: »

You could also try to grab a universal shifter knob replacement. Many of them don't have threads, but just have screws/bolts that get tightened to keep it in place over the shifter. Would be less permanent than epoxying it on.

those are made for shifters that have a screw/bolt combo. They wont sit on a threaded shifter without wobbling.

Daenris

amateurhour wrote: »

Daenris wrote: »

You could also try to grab a universal shifter knob replacement. Many of them don't have threads, but just have screws/bolts that get tightened to keep it in place over the shifter. Would be less permanent than epoxying it on.

those are made for shifters that have a screw/bolt combo. They wont sit on a threaded shifter without wobbling.

No, they're made for any shifter (at least the ones I'm talking about). And a quick perusal of a Ford Probe forum while I was looking for that bit on changing out the shifter confirms that a bunch of people use them with no problems on a Probe.

Of course, like I said, I haven't used one personally so all I have to go on is random internet people who have used them on this model of car.