These
instructions might seem lengthy but they are thorough and most people
appreciate that. This install should take about an hour to perform.
Also, these instructions ONLY apply to the dieselgeek.com Sigma Shifter
that went on sale in November, 2005. These instructions will not work
on any other shifter in existence and are COPYWRITED material and
pictures!
Tools
needed:
3/8
drive ratchet
10mm
and 13mm (1/2 will usually work) socket in 3/8 drive size
Long
extension (12 inch to18 inch is best) in 3/8 drive size
Channel
lock pliers or special hose clamp pliers for MAF clamp (TDI, VR6, 2.0)
Regular
screwdriver for 1.8T MAF clamp
3/8
box end wrench (10mm will work)
#2
Phillips screw driver (normal size)
All-purpose
lubricant such as WD-40 or equivalent
Magnetic
retrieval probe may be helpful but is not required
1.
Always work on a cool car. These engines get hot! You will burn
yourself otherwise.
2.
Park car on level ground, set hand brake. Daylight really works best
for seeing what you are doing. Pull hood latch and open hood.
3.
You need to remove the air box to
do this install. The air box is held in by two 6mm bolts (with 10mm
heads), one behind the battery box and the other behind the air box.
Unplug the mass airflow sensor electrical plug (there is a catch in the
middle that must be pressed to release the plug) and loosen and remove
the hose clamp for the mass airflow sensor (MAF) with a regular
screwdriver (1.8T) or a pair of channel lock pliers or specialized hose
clamp pliers (all other engines). Remove the passenger side vacuum hose
(TDI) or air
injection hose (1.8T, VR6, 2.0) from the
air box by gently but firmly squeezing
where the serrations are on the outer ring. It is
sort of thin and brittle so do not get ham fisted with it or it might
break. Tuck
it in front of the battery box to make room for doing the install.
4.
Looking down to the left hand corner of the battery at the bottom you
will see the shift linkage with two shift cables running back towards
the center of the car. You can look at the new dieselgeek.com short
shift parts and visualize how the new parts go in place.
5.
Detach both of the shift cable ends from the shift cables by pulling
their knurled
plastic rings toward you and against the
coil spring and turning it clockwise (or counter-clockwise depending
how you look at it) against its stop to unlock the cable
ends. This will allow you to slide the cable ends off of
the threaded cables.
6. On the left-most shift bracket,
(the one painted black) undo the shiny metal clip
with your fingernail that secures its pivoting shaft to the
transmission housing. Be especially careful not to lose this clip as it
secures the side to side shift bracket to the transmission. We have
included an extra clip in case you lose the clip when you either remove
or install it.
7. Slide the smaller
black sheetmetal bracket towards
the passenger side of the car (Left hand
drive). There are two
round white plastic pivot bushings on
this bracket. Make sure that the round white plastic bushing on the
passenger side (LHD) stays in the aluminum
tube that is attached to the transmission. Remove the round
white plastic bushing from the stock black shift bracket and replace it
in the aluminum tube if it happens to come out with the stock black
shift bracket. The shifter will not work properly without both of these
bushings being in place! The factory part number for these bushings is
1J0 711 067L if you lose one.
8. Using
a 13mm socket and ratchet (plus 12-18 inches worth
of extension bars if you have them), remove the 13mm nut holding the golf
club-shaped chrome shift bracket to the transmission. The
shift mechanism will rotate counter-clockwise into gear as you loosen
this nut. This is not a problem. After you remove it, place the 13mm
nut in a safe place as it is reused.
9. Use leather gloves
for this step! After the 13mm nut has been removed, you will need to
put the selector shaft in the middle position (neutral) and pull up
repeatedly to remove the chrome shift bracket from the splined selector shaft of the
transmission. You will not hurt the transmission
by doing this. Use some control since you might hurt yourself when the
bracket does finally come free of its shaft. Sometimes it helps to get
both hands on this bracket so you can pull up evenly. Also, while
grabbing the chrome bracket, you can wiggle it side to side while
pulling up on it to free it from the splined shaft. For really new
cars, some people have used a battery
terminal puller to remove
the chrome bracket from the selector shaft. This can be sourced from
most auto parts stores for around $4.00. This step generates the most
tech help calls for us. All I can say is that on stubborn brackets
(10%), the piece will come off! If the splines are new and tight and it
will take a few minutes to get the bracket off.
1.
With the supplied L-shaped Allen wrench and a 3/8 box end wrench (10mm
will work), tighten all ten of the Allen screws of the two aluminum
cable ends until they are almost snug (very
slightly loose). This will make the install easier. Be careful though,
if you over tighten them the shift cables will not be able to be
inserted into them.
2. Back in the engine bay; pull back
the front to back cable rubber boot and plastic ring to expose all threads
of this cable. (This is the cable on the right, or driver side (
3. Start with the bronze colored
front/back bracket first (has dieselgeek.com engraved on it). Before
you try to put the shift bracket back onto the splined transmission selector shaft,
spray the front/back shift cable with WD-40 or equivalent light weight
lubricant. Next, make sure that the small Phillips screw on the
aluminum cable end is just barely threaded as it will block the full
insertion of the cable. Then slide
the aluminum cable end onto the lubricated and partially threaded
shift cable. You must slide the shift cable into
the aluminum cable end until the threads of the shift cable disappear
into the aluminum cable end. If any threads are still visible after you
slide the cable end onto the shift cable
then you need to push a little harder
on the cable so that it bottoms out inside the cable end. This is
extremely important!
4. At this point it is extremely
important to note that there is a key on the splined shaft on the transmission.
The correct corresponding keyway to use on the bronze front to back
shift lever is a large,
rounded key way
with a permanent magic marker mark or an engraved arrow denoting its
position. You cannot easily push the bronze shift bracket onto the
transmission selector shaft without these two elements lining up. It is
very important that you don't install the bronze front to back bracket
in the wrong position. Once lined up, however, the shift bracket will
push pretty easily onto the selector shaft.
(Another easy check is that once the shifter is fully assembled, the
white plastic guide of the side to side bracket will be in the middle
of the bronze front/back bracket while in neutral.)
5.
Place the supplied large 1/2 inch metal washer (there is a 1/2 inch
hole in it) on top of the bronze shift lever,
centering it on the threaded selector shaft that rises straight out of
the transmission. Then thread the 13mm nut
by hand onto the shaft and then tighten it with your ratchet but do not
go crazy with it (The Bentley service manual says tighten to 18 foot
pounds but this accuracy is hard to achieve since the extensions alter
the torque wrench reading). While you are tightening the nut, the
selector shaft will rotate clockwise before the nut gets tight. After
the nut has been tightened, rotate the shift bracket counter-clockwise
to the neutral position. In the neutral position the bronze shift
bracket can be moved up and down.
6. Clamping
the bronze front/back bracket cable end to the shift cable:
Make sure one last time that the front/back shift cables threads are not visible.
The back of the aluminum cable end will be even with the endpoint of
the threads on the shift cable. Once these elements are aligned, fully
tighten the Phillips head screw
on the aluminum cable end. (This screw will likely not thread in if you
have not fully pushed the cable into the aluminum cable end) Next, tighten all 5 of the Allen screws
for the cable end with the supplied 4mm Allen wrench and your own box
end 10mm or 3/8 inch wrench to hold the lock nuts. Tighten the Allen
screws evenly as you are clamping
down on the cable. Tighten the Allen screws until the slots in the
sides of the cable ends will barely allow either a credit card or two
playing cards to fit in the gap. Once the
screws are fully tightened, the front to back lever has now been
properly installed and is fully adjusted in the front/back direction.
7.
Next, make sure that both of the round
white plastic bushings are
in the aluminum pivot hole in the transmission. One bushing should be
on either side
of the pivot hole and the factory part number for these bushings is 1J0
711 067L if you have lost one. The shifter will not work correctly
unless both of them are in place.
8. Next, spray the remaining shift
cable with WD-40 or similar lubricant. Then take the remaining black
side to side shift bracket and engage the lubricated shift cable with
the aluminum cable end. Make sure that the shift cable slides freely in
and out of the aluminum cable end by cycling it several times in and
out of the aluminum cable end (This will remove any burrs inside the
aluminum cable end.) This free movement is crucial to the proper
adjustment of the shifter as described below.
9. Position
the side to side bracket cable end back just far enough to expose all
of the shift cable threads. Next,
slide the black shift levers longer pivot shaft through the hole on the
transmission meant for it (engine side). As you are slowly pushing the
silver bracket to the right, push its aluminum cable end slowly onto
the threaded section of the cable. This is little bit of a ballet act
and under no circumstance should you force anything. You just feed the
bracket toward the right and rotate it backwards onto the cable at the
same time slowly and carefully. As you are sliding the biggest silver
bracket pin through the hole, the white
plastic slider should engage
the horizontal slot in the bronze front/back shift bracket.
10.
After the black shift bracket is fully engaged into the pivot hole,
replace the small
shiny metal clip on the silver bracket pivot shaft.
1. Lock the transmission into its "home" position.
Right now, your black L-shaped locking lever
is in the rest position and should point to the left, just
like in the picture. In the engine bay, make sure that the transmission is in neutral (in neutral the
bronze front/back shift bracket is free to move up and down).
With your right thumb, push down on the crescent-shaped part of the
bronze lever approximately 1/3 of an inch and then with your forefinger
turn the small black L-shaped locking lever
on the transmissions shift tower clockwise while pushing it in. The tip
of this black locking lever will end up pointing straight up
when the shift mechanism is successfully placed in the locked or home
position. You will also not be
able to move the bronze front/back lever up and down if the
transmission is locked into the home position.
See
red heading at
bottom of install manual if you suspect that your plastic locking lever
is damaged.
2. Expose the shift linkage inside the car.
On Golf and Jetta, while working inside of the car, pull the elastic band
at the rear of the shift boot toward the rear of the car and lift up
the rear of the shift boot. Do not to remove the shift boot completely
as it requires you to remove and reinstall the plastic rectangular
shift boot retaining ring if you do. On New Beetle, grab the
rectangular ring at the base perimeter of the shift boot and pull it
upward. It will unsnap from the center console. Then lift the rubber
sound deadening boot from the shifter aperture. On the Audi TT, remove
the eight Torx screws in the aluminum ring surrounding the shift boot.
Lift up the shift boot but do not remove it.
3. Lock the mechanism inside the car into its home
position. Do this by inserting the expensive and rare special tool
we supplied with the kit into the hole at the lower left of the shift lever
and push it through and into the corresponding hole in the shifter base
until it bottoms out. This will give the appearance that the shifter is
in second gear which is exactly correct. Also,
the shift lever inside the car WILL NOT MOVE if you
have successfully put the nail through both holes. If you
do not have the nail tool we provide with our kits, the special tool
was made from a 4 inch long, 20d Bright Common nail with a 5 mm or .195
inch shank diameter and a 30 degree bend 2.5 inches from the tip of the
nail to clear the shift knob.
4. Once you have locked the
transmission into its home position (Step 1) and also installed the
adjustment nail through both holes
inside the car (Step 3), you are ready to tighten one
Allen screw that clamps the silver bracket aluminum cable end to the
shift cable. This IS the adjustment
for the short shift kit! Where you
clamp the side to side cable has everything to do with the proper
adjustment of this shifter. Unlike the front to back cable end, SOME THREADS WILL BE SHOWING
on the side to side cable end! If you did not follow all of the
preceding steps exactly then do not tighten the
Allen screw until you do. If you are confident that you followed all of
the steps before this one then you can finish the adjustment procedure
by simply rotating the aluminum cable end to make it perpendicular to
its mounting pin on the silver bracket (its top slot will face straight
up). Then, tighten the middle Allen screw on the cable end with the
supplied L-shaped Allen wrench and a box end 10mm or 3/8 wrench to hold
the lock nuts. Tighten the middle Allen screw until it will barely
allow either a credit card or two
playing cards to fit in the gap. This is
pretty tight.
5. Unlock the transmission from its home position.
While pushing down slightly on the bronze front/back bracket, pull the
transmissions L-shaped locking pin to the left and rotate it
counter-clockwise until it comes back out to its rest
position stop. It will move toward the right side (engine
side) of the car by approximately 1/2 inch. (You are not removing the
pin completely.) It is very important that you pull this pin back to
the normal rest
position since your shifter will not work
with the pin in the transmission home position! Furthermore, you
will permanently damage the pin if you forcefully try to shift the
mechanism with the pin pushed in! Please do not forget to release the
pin after adjustment. The mechanism will still function if you damage
the plastic pin. The part number for the locking
pin is 02J 301 358C and is available at your dealer for about $5.00. It
is a pain to install, however. An alternative
adjustment procedure is at the bottom of install manual (red heading) if you suspect
that your plastic locking lever is damaged.
11.
Start the engine and go for a ride. You are finished with the install.
12.
Enjoy and tell your friends about how much you love your dieselgeek.com
Sigma 5 Short Shifter!
Note:
While we do not recommend using a B&M shifter in conjunction
with our Sigma Shifter, if you are attempting this install the Sigma
Shifter on a car that has a B&M short shift kit installed then
none of the instructions above apply. Your adjustment procedure is trial
and error since the B&M shift lever does not have the factory
alignment holes to set the shifter in its home position. To
give you an approximate adjustment measurement, there should be 12mm
worth of threads showing on the silver brackets shift cable when the
shift cable boot is pulled back to expose smooth cable. (This applies
to the procedure below as well.) The front/back cable end will have
zero threads showing. B&M owners may also use the procedure
below.
