I took apart my shift **** the other night to try and chase down a really obnoxious rattle that I've noticed since I bought the car. I took it apart, found the rattle (turns out it was just some loose screws holding the plastic parts around the shift boot), and then went to put it back together again. As I screwed down the collar holding the shift lever down, I noticed that one bolt was just spinning relatively freely and not tightening. When I pulled the bolt all the way out and looked closely, it looked as if the threads that the bolt had been screwed into had stripped, the bolt itself didn't look too bad (unfortunately).

I think it is highly unlikely that I stripped it. I wasn't cranking on it hard and was actually just using a screwdriver with a 10mm socket to tighten it. My guess is that it was stripped by a prior owner at some time when he replaced the shifter. The problem I have now is that I know one of those three bolts is not real firm and needs to be fixed. I'm just not sure how to go about doing it. Should I drill it out and re-tap the threads? Drilling it out perfectly straight is going to be a bit tricky in that location. Any ideas suggestions?

The offending bolt is identified below:

 

Helicoil

 

Thanks. Sounds like a good option and a bit more reliable than an ordinary tap. I'm surprised that I haven't heard of them considering the amount of time I spent drilling and tapping holes with my dad on his sailboats over the years.

Now I'm wondering about a couple of things that I don't know...

1) Do those tapped holes go all the way through the housing into the gearbox? (or whatever that is called). I'm wondering because I really don't want to be putting little bits of metal into the gearbox. If so, I may need to take that entire top piece off and I REALLY don't want to do that. Might take it to a shop if I have to take that apart.

2) Does the shop manual list the bolt size and thread specs? The bolt I have is toast, so I need a new one and want to make sure I use the proper size.

3) The tightening torques listed in the shop manual seem a bit high considering that one of the holes has already stripped. Anyone have an opinion?

 

Nope, but you should take it apart to install the helicoil. It's a lot easier than you think.

Not that I know of... Since you should take it apart for the helicoil, just take one of the other other bolts to a hardware shop like Westlake. There are only a hanful of stock bolt thread pitches and sizes so it won't be hard to match up.

I didn't look it up, but make sure what is listed is the proper measurement you are using. The FSM usually lists a few different numbers for different units. Also, sometimes it uses inch/lbs instead of ft/lbs so make sure you are reading the FSM correctly. Looking at the size of those bolts, I can't imagine anything over 17-20 ft/lbs if that but I'll browse the FSM if you are unsure.

 

Thanks for the replies. I was looking at it again and I think you're right, it doesn't look as difficult as I thought to remove the top of the gear box. I'll check the service manual to see if there are any issues with gaskets etc...

I'll also look again at the torque settings. I know they often list several specs, and ft/lbs isn't the first.