For those curious about doing the TSB yourself because lets say you have some mechanical aptitude and a less than ideal dealer (ive taken mine in for the TSB and they fed me crap about my UG and exhuast and said i'd have to bring it back stock and they would have the pull the trans apart, yea right
) and would rather do it yourself, well then heres a DIY for ya.
You can reference post #171 in this thread for the reapir document with pics. and post #274 for the bulletin and ref#s for if you take it to the dealer.
The bulletin can be done in 30 mins to an hour. It requires a 5mm drill bit for the alignment (has to be 5mm or it'll cause mis alignment) and If you're really good either a screw driver or a long pair of pliers. For everyone else at most you'll need a small or avg size phillips screwdriver, flathead screw driver, 7mm socket and racthet, and a set of pliers may come in handy.
-Pop the base of the shift boot off, pry the rear of it in and up and then pull the whole thing up so it's out of the way. (this can actually be done by hand
).
-pop the next pcs of trim off and set it aside. grab it at the rear in the opening made by removing the last trim piece. pull straight up to pop the rear clips free. pull up towards the front to pull the front/middlish clips free then pull it up and over the shifter.
-Pull up the big rubber insulation up off the shifter, it just sets in there.
Note: if you're really good you can probably finish the rest of the alignment without removing any more trim. the only tricky part is popping off the "cable locks" with the much more limited access.
-remove the lower kick panels located at the front of the tunnel under the dash. they both come off the same but the drivers side also has a push clip on it (use a philips and light touch to unscrew the center pcs and then pry out the rest of the clips.
yank the panels free startting farthest from the firewall. after the two tabs are popped free slide the kick panels rearward to free them.
-Remove the large section that goes around the shifter, E-brake, and has the cupholders. Set the E-brake to aid in removal. there are 4 7mm bolts that need to be removed, 2 at the front and 2 at the back (will need to move seats forward to access them). lift the back up and once there's room undo the cigarette lighter and child lock/TC/STM switches.
Pull the part over the e-brake and slide it up and rearwards. spreading the front outwards to clear the hvac controls/center stack may be neccesary.
Time to lock the shifter into the alignment postion. The shift lever has the a built in " alignment pins" built into it. it's the white/yellowish block on the shift lever under the boot and attached to the reverse lockout ring. it is actually the part that blocks out reverse. I'll call this the "alignment block" just to simplify naming.
-release the lock on the alignment block and lift it straight up. the release is the small tab facing the front with a metal braket around it, squeeze/push it downwards as you pull up on the alignment block, it can be stubborn pulling up just pull hard. also it's part of the reverse lockout so it will slide up and down some, keep pulling on it after the intial slack is taken up.
- once its free rotate the alignment block 180 degrees, you want the release tab facing the back and the 2 alignment pins on the drivers side.
- move the shifter over to the 1-2 nuetral gate (all the way left but still in nuetral). slide the alignment block down so the alignment tabs go down into the recieving holes in the shifter base. push down firmily on the alignment block until it SNAPs/clicks into place
NOTE: if you want to check your alignment this is where you'd do it. check it now.
-Time to use that 5mm drill bit (has to be 5mm!!!!!!) pop the hood and look where the shifter linkage is (located under the throttle body and battery, where the cables connect to). right at that spot is a boss attached to the transmission case, it has a small hole for the alignment tool. the linkage has an accompanying hole.
-stick the drill bit thru the boss and into the linkage, if you can fit it in there you do not have to proceed any further. If not the cables are mis adjusted
-release the "cable locks". they're the yellow rectangles located on each of the 2 cables near the shifter. simply pop them up. they are quite stubborn and some prying with a screw driver was neccesary in my case. once they're free leave them free for now, just make sure you've pulled them up all the way (once free it's not hard).
It may be easier to put the gear shifter back in nuetral to access them, just be sure to put it back in the alignment position before continuing.
- Move the shift linkage into position so you can slide the 5mm drill bit into it. you should only have to push the linkage down and wiggle it around until the drill bit slides into the hole. a little side to side wiggling may be neccesary as well. (the linkage will slide up or down for the ranges and forward/backward for the particular gear........ If it does not slide up or down you are in gear and must move it into nuetral by hand and then down until the pin fits in)
- now that the linkage is locked in place lock the lock the cables back in place. being careful not to pull on the cable or shifter simply push both the "Cable locks" down to lock the cables into postion. once they're down push kinda hard to make sure they;re seated.
-Remove the alignment pin.
You've succesfully aligned the tranmission cables. run it thru the gears to make sure it feels right and observe the shifter to make sure it moves in a "straight line" front to back (ie. 1-2, 3-5, 5-6). usually if its off much the shifter will not go straight forward or backwards into a gear but at a slight angle, usually worse in 1-2 or 5-6)
-If all looks good reinstall all the trim, remember to reattach the cigarette lighter and door lock/TC/STM switch when reinstalling the tunnel cover).
DISCLAIMER- I am not resoponsible for any errors in this writeup or any problems encountered if you do this yourself. It is recommended that this be performed by qualified persons with proper tools and referencing the GM bulletin. Also keep in mind this should be covered under the powertrain warranty.
opcorn:
enjoy
-Tyler
