Over Thanksgiving break, I finally was able to get my long awaited short throw shifter installed. This was the FOURTH time I had attempted it. The first two tries I couldn't get past the bolt holding the shifter to the linkage due to corrosion, and the third time I stripped a bolt needed to take the assembly down, and needed to cut it off but didn't have the tools. So then the fourth time, I was finally able to cut the bolt, and install my STS.
Now tonight, as I reached to take my car out of gear, the shifter felt extrememly loose, and rubbery. Even when in gear, the shifter was able to move side to side one to two inches. Nuetral horizontal movement was also extended about an inch, and the shifter sat cocked to the right. Yes, I am pissed now.
The only thing I can think of is that the nut holding the shifter assembly near the rear of the assembly, which was stripped after loosening slightly, has now allowed the shifter to become loose, even though the shifter stayed seated strong for over 600 miles of driving. I am so upset that I have to remove everything again, to try and diagnose the problem, as Rochester is supposed to start getting snow, and I'll be laying on the ground trying to see under the car. And, since there wasn't a lot of room on the trip back home, I removed all of my tools, jack, and stands thinking that I wouldn't need them due to winter. I can't believe this is happening, and now I have two weeks to get my car straight before vacation again. AND I just started my new quarter, and have to make a good impression. It's going to be a hard couple of weeks I think.
Sorry, but I'm not asking for anything, just relaying the extremely bad luck I seem to have had with this stupid **** shifter.

 

Sorry to hear it... maybe you can rig something temporary from above the car (remove the center console) to firm it up.

Maybe use some stiff electrical wire (14 guage or something) and try bind it tight... just a thought.

 

what kind of shifter is it? (probably not the problem, but just curious.)

 

The STS is from an ebay seller SRE Engineering, 27 bones shipped. It is made of all steel, and won't break. (I know for a fact that it's not the shifter that's the problem. As for a temporary fix, I just got off the phone with a friend my college, and he's going to brave the weather with me tomorrow and at least be there as my socket b.tch haha. This kills me, I've spent so much time on this one effin project it makes me go numb when I think about it. Things are so much harder when corrosion is involved. The bottom line is that this is going to be such a pain to get the car on stands again, disconnect the exhaust (those bolts have a way of getting very tight in a very short amount of time when left alone), and removing all else. It just sucks bad.
And after all that, I don't even know if I'll be able to fix it. I don't know if I can secure it with what I have.

 

Put anti sieze on all the bolts when you put them back. Then the heat won't allow them to sieze up again so quickly.

 

Are you talking about the exhaust bolts? This time, I did put antisieze on them, however, since this is the first time I will remove them since I did that, I had no idea how easy/difficult it will be this time. None the less, this will be a pain, and the weather is now supposed to be: High of 40 degrees and snow showers coming and going all day. Fun Fun Fun.

 

Do you have a garage to wrok in? (I hope so )... no time like now to buy one of those cheap propane heaters -(cheap is relative)... 100 bucks or so - they'll provide plenty of heat and make it tolerable - they can warm up a garage nicely - and will probably make a big difference blowing heat onto you if you are working outdoors...

 

Nope, outside in my college's parking lot. Home for me is a five hour drive, so I have no garage to work in. I installed the STS (or tried to on my third attempt) when it was slightly bad weather, but tomorrow will take the cake. I hope it won't be too bad, but who knows. I hope that whatever it is, I can fix it. I hope it's not something that can't be helped by a set of hand tools - I don't have the power drill I used the 4th attempt to remove the one bolt that had stripped, preventing me from removing the assembly. It shouldn't be too terrible now that I think about it: winter hat, two sweatshirts, and gloves, and I should be good to go. Who knows though...

 

I had something similiar happen to me with my STS, although it was an easy fix and I didnt run into the issues you are.
I took around 45-60min to resolve my problem.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ht=fun+shifter

 

Well, we will see. I'm waiting for my friend to get out of the shower, and we'll be going outside soon after that, and I'll know by like four oclock exactly what the problem is. I have a feeling that it is something that has to do with the "stationary" linkage, the one that doesn't move with the shifter (or isn't supposed to move with the shifter). That was one of the most uncomfortable things I had to feel with my car: I felt as if everytime I shifted, I would be stuck or something. I have heard some horror stories, but mine has to do with the install, and not the shifter itself, luckily I guess.

 

I just put an ebay shifter in one of my cars and it was a pain too. The hole in the shifter was too small so I had to get a smaller bolt to put in there. I know before we got everything put together two things made my shifter feel this way. It felt this way before we put the spring back on, and also before we bolted the stabalizer. Those are two things I would check...assuming you still have a bolt thur your shift linkage.

 

Good news! Just got back in from the cold and unforgiving parking lot, and figured out the problem (it was one I could fix easily too!!!). The screw that connects the shifting rod to the linkage had loosened itself (I did not use locktight as well...), which allowed the shifter to wiggle around past the linkage "boundary" for lack of a better word, I guess. BUT, the bolt and nut were still on. Had a friend go out and buy so locktight, retightened everything, and everything is well again. I don't have to worry about my car anymore, or be stressed about it, and I can go out this weekend! It surprised me that the solution was so easy, but I'm not complaining...

 

Awesome, I kinda figured thats what it was.

 

This is why I never bothered messing with my shifter. If it ain't broke, why fix it? However, this weekend, I am finally replacing the shifter support bracket to give me a better shifter feel. I should go for an STS.

 

If you want better feel, the combo of the shifter support bracket, and a STS would be amazing. It changes the driving experience dramatically - more noticably on everyday driving, and not just racing. I'll use a simple comparision: The STS does for the manual transmission, as does the manual transmission does to the car itself. I can't explain it well...the dramatic driving experience change btwn. an auto Maxima and a 5MT Maxima is as much as changing the shifters. The only reason I didn't replace the support bushing, is I couldn't get it off, and the nut that is stripped that I referred to above, is what holds that support bushing in.
The STS is a great mod, and I don't regret doing it even with all the time invested in this one project. It's not that expensive to "go for" an STS either, the all steel, SRE STS (the one I got) can be had on ebay for less than 27 dollars. Sweet deal, and all you need to buy is a bolt to connect the shifter rod to the linkage, as one isn't included.

 

How long have you had yours. I heard that those e-Bay shifters break in time because it is not as durable as those expensive shifters.

 

Ive had mine for at least 3 yrs.
Although i did cut mine down over a year ago too...,

But it felt real solid before i did. Its steel, not aluminum.

 

I have the SRE shifter as well. BigLou, you should have just taken it to an exhaust shop with a lift the first time, its sooooooooo much easier, i even helped the mechanic do it... he had a computer in the garage, and i went to the short shifter install directions here on the org which really helped, charged me 50 bucks, including labor and replaceing some bolts on my exhaust. very worth it IMO, i hate laying on the ground.

 

Lesson learned, I too had an exhaust shop cut the 17mm cat-y exhaust bolts, and throw some new ones on. It was dirty on the ground yesterday, too. My clothes are all dirty...haha.
The difference between the ebay ones you've heard horror stories about, and the one that myself, Dave Sz, and Mendon have, is that the ones that break are made out of aluminum. The SRE construction is fully steel, and shouldn't break.

 

What about those made out of 6061 T6 billet aluminum like the ones from OBX High Performance?

 

I can't say for sure, but Flavor has an OBX STS, so maybe you can pm him.

 

Why not spend 1/2 on an SRE?

 

Because I can't find SRE anywhere. I PM'd Flavor and his OBX is an old version which is made out of steel. On my way to Hooters tonight, for some wings and beer, I stopped at this car boutique and they carry B&M, their price is outrageous ($170)! I guess I can spend $80 for Pacesetter on e-Bay as a last resort.

 

This is the rest of the seller's auctions CLICK HERE. I had to have Dave Sz send me the link for SRE STS's, I couldn't find the link myself. Going back to my old messages, the link seems invalid now. It seems like they come out with a new batch of STS's speratically, it would be best to keep your eye out for one.

 

I saw this one on e-Bay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-99...QQcmdZViewItem

It says its stainless steel and the price is unreal!!! Anyone know about this?

 

That one looks pretty good.

 

I think so too. The only thing I am kinda worried about is if this shifter will hit the shifter trim when its at certain gears.

 

That shifter looks VERY similiar to the SRE unit, except for the welds on the shifter ball. It looks solid, and is the right price. I'd say go for it.

The shifter hitting the trim is one thing I was worried about too, but the SRE unit doesn't, and I'd be willing to bet that this STS doesn't either.

 

Will do ....thanks!

 

In fact, here's a picture of the two shifters compared:

 

So the throw is shorter but the shifter is the same height?

 

The throw is shorter, and the shifter height actually is a little shorter. It doesn't necessarily "look" like a short throw shifter, but it makes the car shift like Nissan should have done from the get go. Believe it or not, the height did change, maybe 1-2 inches or so. Looking at Joosdawg's pics of the SRE STS he has installed makes me almost think that they made one batch shorter from the rest. I'll try to get a good shot of the STS to compare to stock, and hopefully you'll see a difference.

Edit, the shifter rod is actually the same height, but because the actually shifter SITS lower, then it is lower too.

 

and

To be fair, I want you to try and guess which one is the STS...both are in nuetral, and I tried to capture the same angle as best as I could.

And please excuse the de-leatherized ****, and jujeracing.com shift/ebrake boots, somehow they never picture well.

 

Top one is the STS. DUH! jk lol

 

I was hoping someone would notice other than me

Is that about how yours looks nismo? Just for comparison's sake?

 

The top one is shorter.... a bit. I can see the differences in distance judging by how it sits next to the e-brake. Maybe I'll end up cutting mine down shorter. Not sure how this will affect shifting....I hope it won't make shifting difficult and notchy.

 

I was thinking of doing this as well, but I wouldn't want to cut it too much since I want to continue using the stock shifter, if not anniversary edition. Even if it didn't change the shifter height (even though it did...) I still would have been happy. In fact, the way the shifter sits now, I'm happy with. I can rest my elbow, and my forearm now sits parallel if my hand is resting on the shifter. I'm very happy with the product, and the price, but for me the install was a pain because of so many hang ups.

 

We'll I'm probably thinking of taking off another 2" off of the STS. That should probably do it for me. Also, you mentioned about how Joosdawg's STS might be from a batch that was made shorter. Perhaps the reason why the newer version was made a bit longer is because the older version gave a notchier feel....what do you think? Maybe Joosdawg can give us some input on the shifter feel. If that is the case, I might change my mind on shortening the STS.

 

That's how mine sits, except about an inch shorter since I have a threaded ball shifter. I would not advise cutting the shifter as this one already feels SLIGHTLY notchy to me. I would just keep it as is, and if it bothers you enough THEN cut it down an inch or so.

 

rip your leather (on ****) on the install BigLou? me too. i thought about just taking it right off too, but im getting the AE **** soon so it doesn't matter! i cant wait.