2 days ago, in a parking lot, I started to put my 6-speed in reverse. To my surprise, as I pulled upwards, the entire gearshift **** and boot assembly flew off! The **** and boot hit the headliner and I nearly had an accident. It was like opening the can of peanut brittle and the snake pops out. Man.

Mind you I've never done steroids and was never bitten by a radioactive spider, this was not a matter of brute strength overcoming an otherwise solid piece.

I recalled seeing something about this on this board having to do with retaining clips (but haven't been able to re-locate it, only mightyjlr's post about Service Action #03-013). After staring dumfounded at the bare stick (and the shifter innards underneath) for a few, I was able to get the **** on good enough to operate.

Yesterday my tech confirmed he was able to "duplicate the problem." Trouble is, they performed the Service Action #03-013
supplemental deal, according to their records, while this was on the floor. So, having done what Chrysler recommends, they are mystified.

Anyone else having this problem? Any suggestions that don't involve duct tape or JB Weld?:lol:

It seems only to happen in reverse so it's not too frequent -- and it hasn't happened since, but mainly because I now approach Reverse like I am about to de-activate a land mine. The danger is that when it happens it is shocking, and in a tight situation where a driver is not thinking about this, say parallel-parking downtown, or backing into a space, it will happen again and the slight delay in reaction time will make one bang into a car behind, or a light post or something.

 

Did they put a new retainer nut on for the shifter??

 

Way, way, way back last August or September, somebody posted here a list of 6 things the dealers were supposed to check on the car before delivery...over and above the normal 'pre flight' prep.

As I recall from the posting, the mechanical is supposed to energetically pull on the shift lever several times to try to get it to do what yours did. If it did, there was a recommended fix.

Your dealer should be aware of this problem.

 

This happened in my bosses car a few months back. Very early production crossfire. I assumed it was because he let everyone an there mother drive the vehicle. At least 60 different people.

The clip could have come loose, I'm not sure. He took it to the dealer and they swapped out / replaced the necessary parts. It is no longer an issue.

Mine shifts fine, but I'm the only driver

 

Well, it happened again today, while I was parallel parking. Not only did **** and boot come off, the section of the silver console loosened as well (giving me an unexpected tour of how the console fastens, i.e., plastic clips). Good news: you can shift and drive the car without the ****. I looked and looked and could see nothing resembling a retaining nut; there is a silver-colored metal four-pronged collar assembly sticking down from the **** itself. As far as I can tell, spring action of the prongs is the only thing holding the **** on to the shifter shaft. Seems a queer design, a simple nut/bolt or dowel going through collar would do the job.

Does anyone have a pic of what this "retaining nut" is supposed to look like? Or a part number?

 

Again... see the previous post.. This should have been addressed by your dealer in an early campaign.. Not a TSB but a "service action" that was to be perfromed on all early Crossfires... Take your CF in as sson as possible and have this repaired- as you have stated it is somewhat dangerous! Inform them that this was addressed in a service action, and all should be well! If you have any problems, PM me and I will send you the service action number and info!

Good luck!

 

RIGHT...I know about the service action and so does my dealer....what I said in my first post was that their records show the SA was DONE. So they are now mystified as to why the **** still comes off. Me, I think maybe their computer records are wrong. Happens.

 

Why not post the Service Action Number and info on the "TSB and How-To Articles" forum so we'll all have it for reference??? Thanks.

 

Look up 03-013 on the forum search.It was posted

 

Thanks... I found it. It was posted way back in Aug. Any chance of adding it to the TSB and How-To forum making it a lot easier to find???

 

Well, I'm the next lucky contestant in Gear-shift roulette.

Same basic story as the earlier ones:
Lift up on the ****, and "Tah-Dah!" 8-O the whole thing comes off, boot and all. The centre console disassembles, and I end up driving to the dealer sifting with the thin metal pole, cold Indy AM air flowing in, and a cool view of all the wires and the underside of my console.

Good news, I took advantage of the chance to reverse (correct) my window buttons.

I didn't quite catch if everyone else had to have the whole gear-shift assembly replaced or not, but I'm tooling around in a Pacifica here for the next week (hopefully less).

 

I noticed that you joined the forum in Oct 2003, have you had your XFire that long? How many miles do you have on the car, what is the build number? I have #01614 w/about 3600 miles on it, so far no shifter problems, no popping out of first gear. I'm just sort of wondering if I will get a little surprise in the future. When/if it happens, I will probably fix my window switches also.
Bob

 

My build number is in the mid-3000's.

I actually noticed the milage as I limped to the dealer: 22,245

Well past when I would expect any unpleasentness like this. I've had just about every other problem that came along with the early numbers, though, so it shouldn't have surprised me. Certainly woke me up this morning, though.

I had noticed the past week or so, that the **** seemed loose. Not really wobbly, but the **** definately shifted position a little as I progressed gears (forward to backward and vica-versa motion).

I fear this wasn't a left over of the initial SA that just got missed (too many miles, and the recent change in **** stability). It might be from all the work I had done during the 1st gear pop-out fiasco, mine happened before the "fix" was established, so they were inside that assembly more than once before they gave up and just replaced the tranny.

But, at least it happened before the 30K mark.

 

Does anyone know for sure if the 6spd shift linkage is cable driven or otherwise;
It appears that it might be cable and approx. below the centre console (shift lever), if you look up from underneath the car there appears to be a plastic type connection with possibly some adjustment. If you know what I mean by this, do you have any idea what this is and does it in fact adjust shift throw or otherwise. Also, do you know if this is related to the problems experienced with shift **** , lever coming off?
I've never had a problem with my 10,500kilometer car but have often wondered about any "throw" adjustment and am now concerned about specifics causing the ****/lever problems.

 

I just got my Crossfire and it did the same thing. Scared the bejeebers out of me! I tightened the ring/nut under the leather boot up against the bottom of the ****. I had to force the **** back on and it has not come back off. The inside of the **** has fingers and when you tighten the rigng/nut it squeezes the fingers tighter on the shaft.
Mike

 

Got her back today.

You know, the more I think about this issue the more it really really bothers me.

That crappy o-ring clamp is entirely wrong for a shifting sequence that requires you to lift up on the ****. There it really nothing holding the **** on the shaft other than the tension of that ring/nut stupidity. All the grip there is on the sides of a smooth round shaft. Why the heck didn't they just use a normal screw-thread. There would be no problems, and great verticle stability.

I am starting to think this will happen to everyone, over and over again.

 

It happened to me about a couple of months ago... I took it to the dealership and they fixed. They glued the **** in this time.

ACE

 

Good to know about the "ring nut" that is used to tighten ****/lever assembly.
Possibly that is something that should be looked at each time an oil change is performed.
Do you know if it is a simple inspect and if it's loose, then you can tighten with tool (what tool?)

 

If you stick your hand under the leather boot right to the base of the **** you can feel the nut. I turned it about 4 turns or until it got tight. Just with my hand. I noticed just before it came off, the **** would make a clicking sound when I would shift. It not only came off in reverse, it would pop off on a 1-2 hard shift. It has not come off since.