6 Speed shifter assembly removal

Has anyone removed the shifter assembly from the interior of the car?

I was running some USB cables to the armrest and dropped a screw. I'm pretty certain that the little guy fell into the void just in front of the shifter. I have fished around with a magnet, but with the assembly in the way, it's really tough to reach anywhere with the magnet.

I see the 4 bolts holding the assembly in place, but I don't know if I have to worry about the cables, or if there are any other mysteries that I may find. I'd love to unbolt the assembly to free up some room to look for the screw. I'm not so much worried about having the screw, those are cheap to replace, I'm worried about it rattling around in the void. I think I've heard it shifting around a few times already. And although I may not be able to hear anything once the console/armrest is put back together, I'd prefer that it wasn't in there, plus I don't want it wedging itself somewhere where it could cause issues.

So, is there any risk in unbolting the assembly so I have some room to work with? Will it mess with the cable tension, or anything else?

Thanks for your input!

I don't know exactly how to do it, but I believe in order to remove it, you have to come from the exhaust tunnel.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

torga said:

I don't know exactly how to do it, but I believe in order to remove it, you have to come from the exhaust tunnel.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Click to expand...

There are 4 bolts in the interior, but I think you are right that it drops down out of the car, and to remove it you may need to pull it from underneath, I'm not certain though. Even if I can't get it all the way off, being able to move it around a bit may free up enough space to shine my light, and dig around with the retrieval magnet...

I spoke with Dieselgeek, and they shared a video with me that basically shows that I'm SOL if I can't fish it out with a magnet. The shifter assembly is closed on the bottom, so removing the 4 bolts will not give any more access, it will all move as one unit. The only option would be dropping it through the bottom of the car, and after seeing what's involved, no thanks...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTkLejxs0KI