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Ever since I picked up my car I've found 1st and 2nd pretty difficult to get into, especially 1st, I'd often have to get into 2nd and then get into 1st making taking off from a stoplight embarrassingly annoying. This also makes downshifting from 3rd into 2nd difficult as well.
If this sounds familiar to you, it means that your reverse lockout plate adjustment is off from factory and you just need 15 minutes of your time to adjust it. Making the adjustment on mine has made a night and day difference.
That's it, put everything back together in reverse of how you took it apart. You'll need to put a zip tie back on to keep the shift boot up if you clipped yours to make the adjustment.
If this sounds familiar to you, it means that your reverse lockout plate adjustment is off from factory and you just need 15 minutes of your time to adjust it. Making the adjustment on mine has made a night and day difference.
Tools Needed
- 2.5mm hex
- T20 torx
- Plastic trim tool
- An extra zip tie.
Remove Gear Knob
- Loosen the M5x16 grub screw from the front of the gear shift knob with a 2.5mm hex key.
- Remove the spring and o-ring, play close attention to their orientation for later re-assembly. The o-ring fits into the shift knob recess.
Remove Engine Start Switch Panel Cover
- Remove the center console rubber pad.
- With some gloves, pull up the front plastic gloss plastic tab under the rubber mat. This is the front of the panel cover, pull it straight up.
THIS PANEL IS SHARP
- Use the trim tool to pry upwards starting from the front and working all the way back. Take care not to damage the aluminum finished plastic. Work your way left and right and backwards until the full panel can be lifted up.
- Lift the panel up, you'll see it's still attached to the gear shift knob via a zip tie, roll the panel over to see access to the inside shifter area.
- Unclip the connector to the ignition switch.
- OPTIONAL: Clip off this zip tie to be able to completely lift the panel up and out of the car. You only need to do this if you can't access the adjustment bolt easily.
Make the Adjustment
- Look down into the shifter area and you'll see the T20 screw with the green arrow, you will need to slightly loosen this bolt a few turns in order to free up the plate to move up and down.
- The issue here is that the plate is located too far down to engage 1st, 2nd, or Reverse smoothly.
- Move the plate up by 2mm and tighten the T20 bolt back up. Moving the plate up increases the distance before the plate makes contact with the reverse lockout plate, moving it down reduces it.
- Test your adjustment.
- Repeat if necessary.
That's it, put everything back together in reverse of how you took it apart. You'll need to put a zip tie back on to keep the shift boot up if you clipped yours to make the adjustment.
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