Okay...wanted to edit but the edit button has disappeared. I got the prying done and clips pulled out. It says to "slide" the cables out of the bracket now. Trying it with fingers does nothing. Prying with screwdriver does nothing. Gently tapping with hammer does nothing. Knocking the crap out of it with a hammer does nothing. HOW do you get the cables out of the bracket? My car is stuck like this thanks to extremely vague directions.

RN

 

DETAILED install guide can be found HERE:
http://srtforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8700

It's for an SRT4, but the setup and directions are EXACTLY the same for the PT Cruiser. So if you ever want to install a Hurst 5-speed shifter on a PT, check that link!

RN

 

Can use this guide too:
http://ptcw.truckmoxie.com/tenarticle.ten?sid=8&aid=70

Just to note, it is possible to change the main shifter bracket floor bushings with the supplied Hurst ones without disconnecting the shifter cables from the main bracket. Also, some opt not to install those bushings and the Hurst shifter works just fine and doesn't noticibly flex side-to-side (which the Hurst supplied bushings help limit, but in actual use, you won't notice much difference). Replace the stock shifter cable bushings with Booger Bushings (tranny and shifter) and the shifting is noticibly tighter and more positive. The stock bushings just snap on and off to the shifter, so prying/popping them off with a large screwdriver is straight forward, but the Hurst installation guide doesn't explain that. And it's fairly easy to remove the OEM bushings from the shifter cable ends, if you are going to replace them with Booger Bushings since they are designed like grommets. Just use a screwdriver to lift the lip in and push through. One suggestion I would also recommend doing is to use Blue Loctite on all the threads and torque everything, plus liberally grease all the bushings and the shifter ball housing. Buying the hex bits, 7/32 and 3/16, really helps a lot to tighten up/torque everything properly.

 

Thanks for the link. Any tips on getting selector and crossover cables back in the factory mounting bracket? I been trying to work them back in for a while now but I'm getting nowhere. I have everything else put together now. Except for the clips and cables, this is an easy install, though the console can be a pain to remove without scratching (mine's painted).

RN

 

Okay, the no editing after 120 minutes thing is getting REALLY annoying. It forces lots of unnecessary replies.

I'll get pics of the completed install in a few hours...because it's not done yet. Have to get a plastic piece that fits into the selector cable, then just a few minutes will remain to finish it. It will FINALLY be done and I can avoid such installs in the future.

RN

 

Thanks for the link. Any tips on getting selector and crossover cables back in the factory mounting bracket? I been trying to work them back in for a while now but I'm getting nowhere. I have everything else put together now. Except for the clips and cables, this is an easy install, though the console can be a pain to remove without scratching (mine's painted).

RN

Now you know why I didn't remove my cables from the bracket, or anybody elses for that matter on PT's that we helped install their Hurst shifter after helping my friend install his. It really isn't necessary to remove the cables from the shifter bracket or even replace the OEM shifter bracket bushings with the Hurst supplied ones. Installation of the Hurst shifter, including replacing the bushings can be done without removing the cables from the shifter bracket, although removing the hand brake cable makes it easier to remove the console for some PT's (some people have even removed one of the seats).

But back to the chase. You have to turn/move the bracket to get a big pair of pliers in there (from the front side of the bracket) to reinstall the clips and to get a good stable leverage position (another person helping could speed things up by keeping the bracket from moving). If that is too difficult, you may end up having to go under the car and remove the cat converter heat shield, the floor pan cable assembly hold down bracket (mark the cables so when you tighten the bracket the cables are back in the OEM position and factory installed cable lengths) to get more slack in the cables or room to work with, reattached the cables/clips to the bracket, then reassemble. The cable clips are a pain to take off and reinstall and you need room to get a big pair of adjustable pliers in there, possibly need another person to help, to press the clips back in. Then you MAY have to adjust the crossover cable (the selector cable is NOT adjustable) if you don't have the cables back in the OEM installed position and/or OEM cable lengths from the floor pan to the shifter OR if you can't make the proper adjustment, go back under the car, loosen the floor pan bracket and change the cable length to the shifter. If worse comes to worse, disconnect the cables and clips from the transmission and take the whole thing out of your car and install the cables and clips on the bench. You will first need to note how the cables are routed to the transmission. Just FYI for everyone else, the clips have an upward bend on the clip fingers end and will snap/lock into place and the factory recommends using new clips instead of reusing the old ones. Its getting them started in the groove and having the room and leverage to do so that's the problem.

If you didn't remove the cables/clips from the shifter bracket, the install would have been much easier/faster and the cables could have just snapped back on the new shifter without any need for adjustments. 2 hours at the most from start to finish if you took your time and had a couple of coffee breaks along the way.

 

Cables are in...I hammered them enough to use a tool to just push the other side into place and the clips went back on within 15 minutes. Now I just need the little plastic piece off the bottom end of the stock shifter...I guess it was supposed to pry off as part of the selector cable but it didn't. Can't pry it or it'll break, so may have to just cut the stock shifter pin at the bottom. But...once that's done, I'll have the whole thing done in a matter of minutes.

I must say...seeing our install and the one for the SRT4...I wish ours was set up more like the SRT4.

RN

 

Cables are in...I hammered them enough to use a tool to just push the other side into place and the clips went back on within 15 minutes. Now I just need the little plastic piece off the bottom end of the stock shifter...I guess it was supposed to pry off as part of the selector cable but it didn't. Can't pry it or it'll break, so may have to just cut the stock shifter pin at the bottom. But...once that's done, I'll have the whole thing done in a matter of minutes.

I must say...seeing our install and the one for the SRT4...I wish ours was set up more like the SRT4.

RN

What little plastic piece? There's a big plastic piece that fits under the shifter pivot ball (need to grease that as well as the upper metal area) and align that correctly too, has locating pins molded into it, and has a split/cut on one side so you can remove/install it from the shifter). I held the whole thing together using my fingers and gently lowered it into place to keep it all aligned and then hand tightened the new extended nut stand (the nuts that the limiter collar/brace sits on top of) and tested the shifter for any binding. The other plastic piece is the plastic covered lever on the left side that snaps on the new shifter (but you can take that apart when you remove the upper shifter assembly, watch out for the spring there and note how/where its aligned and/or held in place) and where the selector cable attaches to at the bottom of that lever. I don't recall any other plastic pieces to worry about.

 

I got the piece off...we ground down the stock pin and pulled off the piece. Everything is hooked up very tightly and it shifts very solidly into gear.

I like the shifter but it has a few small issues. For one, going into first grinds every now and then. Of course, that may be me not fully engaging the gear. On top of it, there's a rattling sound, front passenger side. I checked every shifter component and even the cables and they aren't the problem. It only comes up when in gear though. Perhaps it's just a noise I hear now because I removed the sound deadening material and don't have the center console in yet. If anyone has tips on troubleshooting odd noises, I'm game tomorrow.

I finally got this done...few bugs to work out and console goes back in and car looks like new (after I wash it, at least ).

RN

 

Still would like to know what piece you had to modify unless you are talking about the OEM cable bushing that snaps on to the shifter, which if hardened is difficult to remove and should be replaced if it is that condition (it will crack/rip or fall apart and I've seen a few like that). Maybe post a picture or 2. Installing a Hurst or B&M shifter is pretty much an easy R&R without having to mod anything (or remove cables...lol...j/k). Think I helped install enough of them.

As far as the rattling, have somebody ride with you with a car stethoscope to pinpoint the area. Might be under or outside the cabin area or even something rolling around in the glove box...lol...j/k.

 

The piece is the little plastic piece that went inside the loop of the selector cable. It's the piece on the pin at the bottom of the stock shifter shaft.

I'm thinking the grinding is me not being used to a new shifter and just not pushing it into gear hard enough. The rattling may be related to the dust cover, as the dealer AGAIN removed the fasteners and didn't put them back. Somehow it got doubled over and scraping, so I zip-tied it in place...so maybe the bend is touching something moving or the wheel is loose.

Tomorrow I'll troubleshoot it and report back on the problem. It may just be that the sound deadening material is gone and console out, so I'm only hearing what was covered up before. Only time (tomorrow) will tell...

RN

 

Ahhh...ok...that's the cable bushings. Sounds like you really need to replace them with either new OEM ones or Booger Bushings. The OEM bushings should have popped right off easily without breaking using a flat screwdriver(s) or by working one side and then the other to get them off. Don't know why Chrysler didn't just mold the OEM ones solid instead of a honeycomb design. That would eliminate the mushy/rubbery feel for a more solid shift like other car manufacturers or with Booger Bushings installed. But in defense of that design, it allows more give to help prevent cable stretching from hard shifting. With the Hurst collar/limiter bracket installed and adjusted correctly, stretching the cables by using a solid bushings, like Booger Bushings, shouldn't be a problem or long term concern. Do a search on Booger Bushings and I posted 2 ways to mod the one bushing that goes on the sleeved bolt on the Hurst shifter (right side) IF you decide to upgrade your cable bushings.

 

Yes, that's the piece. I may see about the bushings. When I went to the dealer, though, no one knew what the shifter was or the bushing, no one knew how to work on it and they said I'd have to order a whole new shifter to get any of it, for $101.

In just a few minutes, I'll be out checking on the car and fixing the rattling and grinding, then probably enjoying getting to actually DRIVE the PT for the first time since mid September. |)

RN

 

When I did my 5spd in my 01, I left the cables in the bracket.
All you need to do is figure out how to get enough pressure on the bushing to seat them on the shifter pin. That was a #####

 

Grinding is me...just not slamming into 1st very well. Rattling is the exhaust. I suspect a broken exhaust hanger (thank you, dealer, for that and the broken dust cover). Should be all patched up tomorrow...then on to fix the currently non-functional rear power windows...

Thanks guys. The tips and various guides combined to help finish off the job easily. It's a SIMPLE install but definitely not an easy one.

RN

 

Should be all patched up tomorrow...then on to fix the currently non-functional rear power windows...

RN

rob,
not trying to be a dill but did you forget to plug in the rear window control when you put the console back in. you have an early edition (2 switches on dash) right? i know on mine if the rear switch panel is not plugged in, the front panel wont operate them either.
does your rear switch panel have 2 plugs or just one?

 

rob,
not trying to be a dill but did you forget to plug in the rear window control when you put the console back in. you have an early edition (2 switches on dash) right? i know on mine if the rear switch panel is not plugged in, the front panel wont operate them either.
does your rear switch panel have 2 plugs or just one?

My console isn't in right now...but right after I took it out, I had to roll up the windows in the back and it worked then. I think something got crossed somewhere. I'll have it figured out by the end of the weekend...which starts tomorrow afternoon thanks to the university being closed Friday. Once I find an exhaust shop to fix the hangers, this PT will be good to go once more. |)

RN

 

going into first grinds every now and then. Of course, that may be me not fully engaging the gear.

I had a similar problem with First Gear.
1) Double check the cable adjustment (with the little adjustment nut on the left side cable) as per the instructions.
2) Back off the Hurst front shift-limiter allen bolt as far as necessary to get a good positive connection with first gear. If -alll-the-way-out is not enough, you might have to do like I did, and take off the billet collar and GRIND IT BACK enough to allow proper 1st Gear seating. Be sure to remove it from the car before grinding, as you don't want little bits of grit in the shifter mechanism.

3) Order and install the Booger bushings. Trust me on this. They make the Hurst shift even better. There are plenty of links for them if you search around the pt sites.

Console is easier to remove and reinstall if you loosen the parking brake adjustment so it is easier to pull the darn thing up to vertical. (with seats all the way back AND tilted all the way back and Armrests up to make way.

Good luck!

 

I had a similar problem with First Gear.
1) Double check the cable adjustment (with the little adjustment nut on the left side cable) as per the instructions.
2) Back off the Hurst front shift-limiter allen bolt as far as necessary to get a good positive connection with first gear. If -alll-the-way-out is not enough, you might have to do like I did, and take off the billet collar and GRIND IT BACK enough to allow proper 1st Gear seating. Be sure to remove it from the car before grinding, as you don't want little bits of grit in the shifter mechanism.

3) Order and install the Booger bushings. Trust me on this. They make the Hurst shift even better. There are plenty of links for them if you search around the pt sites.

Console is easier to remove and reinstall if you loosen the parking brake adjustment so it is easier to pull the darn thing up to vertical. (with seats all the way back AND tilted all the way back and Armrests up to make way.

Good luck!

Thanks for the tips. Earlier, I loosened the collar and shoved it forward since the shifter hit the collar and didn't engage. I moved it forward and tightened down the collar again, tightened the bits holding lower and upper shifter pieces and tightened nuts mounting it on floor and it seems to VERY solidly slide into first gear now. No more problems. Only thing is the rear window switch, which I'll work on tomorrow.

For the shifter, the way I figured was it wasn't pushing the stick forward enough to pull the cable back far enough to engage, thus the grinding. So the easy fix is to allow the stick to move farther forward, which'd pull harder on the cable and allow it to fully engage...luckily, it worked.

If anyone wants detailed installs for other parts, I can come up with them. I've done the 3-gauge pillar pod, full suspension replacement, this shifter and other little bits. I'm sure I can come up with more too.

RN