I agree the nut is definently on backwards, and i doesnt look like it is screwed all the way down.

 

Well I went out and took things apart. I put the nut back on the right way...it threads down about another quarter of an inch that way. I don't have any kind of retainer in the end of the boot, I ended up pulling the whole thing inside out to see how it worked. I'm going to work out a solution to hold the boot up to the knob. I like the lower position of the knob already.

I was fairly certain my dealer, and the dealer they got the car from, were both not fully competent, but this confirms it.

 

You guys better have it looked at if it looks like the one in CoastS2k's pic.

Sorry I don't have a better pic, but even from this angle I can tell that it shouldn't be like that.

 

Actually mine looks like that.. so I guess my dealer is semi competenet... the monkeys did not torque the lugnuts properly after putting on the lock nuts and left the tires at about 28 psi..

 

the reason the shift boot is sitting so low is because you need a zip-tie that wraps around the upper part of the boot from the inside to keep it from sliding down. sometimes the zip tie just needs to be tightened a bit more so that it is snug around the upper portion of the shifter.

 

 

The material of the shift boots are slightly different between the 00-03 and the 04 consoles. (shift knobs are a little bit different as well) Coast's car definitely had the knob to high and the locknut on upside down. Removing the shift knob is not part of the PDI. Either it was done at the factory (possible)This is not neccesarily something that a dealer tech would catch, unless they have spent a lot of time in a 00-03. Or the knob was removed once and not reinstalled properly.

The Factory does make some mistakes, I have found tools in brand new cars multiple times, left there by assembly line workers.

I'd still bet that someone removed the knob and didn't reinstall it properly.

 

The Florida dealers that I visited had the shift knobs and antennas removed from all the S2000s sitting on the lot. Miami, Tampa, same thing. I guess someone was ripping off antennas, not sure on the motivation for removing the shift knobs. But it looks like someone rushed the re-installation of the knob and jacked it up.

Thanks for the pictures and tips everyone. Fixing this is my next project.

 

A 14mm wrench is all you need.

 

Maybe that's the '04 look!