PrimoAP1

Thanks Mike- I'll check them out...

tesseract

has anyone tried the J's damper? does it work well?

davepk

Just how much movement are we talking about here. 1/2" side to side? With the car off and the stick in gear can the stick be moved side to side? By how much?

There is a nylon bushing at the bottom of the stick. If it breaks it would introduce a fair bit of free play into the otherwise tight movement of the stick.

PrimoAP1

There is not alot of free play with the engine off. This appears to be just a lack of smooth roads here In Portland OR.

Thanks all!

troypiersma

Hey davepk..
I have a 01 and was knocking my head against a wall trying to figure out why my shifter was literally moving 2-3 inches back and forth WHILE IN GEAR. Your post gave me the confidence I needed to pull the darn thing apart and replace the nylon bushing at the very bottom of the shifter. IT FIXED IT!!!! Thank you Thank you Thank you!

total cost 10 bucks (replaced the spring too)

turns out, the nylon bushing snaps onto the end of the shifter. but it loosened and came out of that bushing, so it was VERY loose.

TIP:
For anyone experiencing this problem, you might get the whole thing apart, and find that the bushing is stuck at the bottom. To get it out (I believe the only way.. I had to get creative), you must buy the new one first, then go find a LONG machine screw that fits the hole at the bottom of the new bushing. Make sure the screw fits tight. Then use the same screw to screw into the old STUCK bushing, once you have it pretty much attached, just pull! the old bushing comes right out!

This took me hours to figure out. So you get the benefit (like I got the benefit of knowing what the problem was in the first place, thanks to davepk)

Thanks again all, and good luck
Troy.