Thread: Removing shift knob advice?

I am trying to take my shift knob off to replace it with a weighted one. I have heard that Nissan used very strong adhesive to keep it on and I have been advised to use a channel lock wrench and a rag which I attempted to do however it still dug into the leather and would like to find a way to get it off without marring the leather anymore. I tried wrenching it by hand for a while but I ended up moving the leather but not the actual knob. Is there any method that has worked well for getting it off?

wow everytime i go to the junk yard they twist right off...

I hear a bench vise + rag works.

Good luck working with a bench vise inside the car. =/

Yeah I have heard of people removing the shifter with knob attached and rolling over it with the car to break that adhesive loose.

You heard right on the adhesive. I ended up cutting the shifter in half and it still wouldn't come off, so we used a grinder to make a shorter shifter

This isnt the news I wanted to hear. Does anyone know if its like red loctite and needs to be heated to remove? I would try it but heating up a leather knob sounds like a stupid idea.

I thought you wanted to preserve the knob. If you don't care about it then forget the rag and go at it with the channel locks. Add some heat too for fun. If you want to preserve the knob, you can't use any significant amount of heat.¹


¹Can I get a gay reading on that one?

I do want to preserve the knob

I had a helluva time getting mine off. I finally heated it with a blow dryer, grabbed it with some rags and gave it hell. Once the seal is broken it will twist right off.

I tried using a wrench and no good! I read about rolling over it with the car but didn´t try so.... Finally decided to slice it in half to remove it to later find out I liked better the OEM!!