Ok, so here is the second part of the paddle shifter install. What you should have now is all of your column wiring, buttons installed in the well, and should be ready to start the wiring to the console shifter. You will need these tools: 8 MM socket 10 MM socket ratchet Phillips head screw driver Trim sticks for removing pannels Heat Gun or HOT blow dryer Parts Needed: Your wiring kit from PLCMAN (or your own if you are not using his) Wire zip ties Electrical Tape Flashlight I removed the center radio bezel, ashtray, and the radio, so I do not scratch parts or risk doing some damage. I would highly recommend you remove those too. I also removed the lower steering column cover, the metal steering column support cover and the center console. I did this so it make it easier to route wires and tuck them install for a clean look. Now, to remove the Radio Bezel, put your fingers into the bottom of the top air vents and pull toward you. The top will pop out. There are 4 more (2 on each side) snap connectors. On next the radio and on the bottom. You will need to use a trim stick or, gentle finger persuasion to pull them out. Once they pop out, disconnect all of your connectors. I found this helpful (taken from http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=11339): Just lift it forward. You'll have to reach behind it to unplug the three harnesses. One between the two vents and two to the climate controls: It helps if you put the gear shift back into neutral since when it is all the way forward in park it tends to get in the way. Next you pull out the ashtray panel that contains the cig. lighter. You then unplug the wire from the back of it. There is this pain in the A** plastic clip that you have to pry off with a screwdriver. Next, remove the radio by removing the 4 screws to the right and left (seen here) and put the radio away. Inside in a close works best so no one messes with it. Now that the radio and main console are all removed, remove the Shifter Handle, sifter bezel and surround. You remove the shifter handle by simply unscrewing it. If you have a new 07 and or 08, your may be held on with a retaining clip. To remove the shifter bezel, remove the rubber mat just in front of it. This will expose 2 screws. You will need to remove the 2 screws from the very front of the bezel itself and the retaining clips in the rear (pictures of it lower down). I like to remove the little rubber pocket to the right of the shifter itself. This step is optional, I used the pocket to hold my screws but, you do not have to remove it. You do this by putting your hand into the pocket, with your fingers, push the rear bottom of the pocket towards the shifter. The bottom of this rubber boot has a retainer on it that snaps into an opening in the bezel. Here is a picture of the location of the retaining clips that hold the bezel on. These are tough to get out with trim sticks but, it can be done. Also, do not be alarmed if the chrome piece that goes around the sifter itself comes out. Mine did as it is just friction held. Next, you will want to remove the center floor console. This part was east. You will need to remove the two screws in the front: and 3 8MM bolts in the console storage area. To remove these three bolts, you will need to remove the rubber mat at the very bottom of the storage area. It simply pulls out. You may need to fold or bend the mat to work it out. When you do, you will see this: Once these bolts and screws are out, slide the console reward to disengage to the front "hooks". The console simple slides into these hooks are there just to keep the front of the console from flapping. You will need to disconnect the power socket in the storage area before you can really remove the console. The wire is long enough to slide back about 10" to allow you to get up under the console. What I did is to slide it back until the wire let me know it was fully extended. I then tilted the front of the console up towards the roof of the car. This exposed the power outlet. You will need to squeeze the clip HARD to get to come out. Do not use pliers, or anything else as the clips break easy. They are designed to hard to remove so they do not come out. It took me a bit but, it will happen. Once you got this unclipped, I fully tilted the console up and out of the way. I did NOT remove it from the car. The console has some tape to prevent rattle that I did not want to mess with. It was not in my way at all. You should now see this: Closer shot of the parts we will need to start working on. Now, no flaming on all that dust in my car. I did not have my vac with me. The clip just above the pink wire in the lower portion of the pic is the one we are after. Can you see it? It looks like the wires are being tucked back inside. Here is a better shot of it. It goes to the shifter button module, you can barely make it out in this picture. We will need to remove more stuff to get to the meat. Next, you will need to remove the black P R N D indicator cover. This is done by pulling out and up on 4 tabs. You can see to of them in the pic above. These are easy and do not require much force. Put it aside: Ok, now, it should look like this. Also, notice where I routed the grey wire. This is coming from the SCM connector behind the clock spring. It was the best way as routing it under the carpet left a bulge in some spots. The black strip in the middle need to come out so we can remove the white plastic trim. It simply slides off. Do not touch the underside too much as it has white litho grease that you not only not want on your hands but, you don't want to remove from the parts. Looks like this: Now, to remove the white plastic part, all you do is push in (towards the shifter) on the top (the front) of the trim. You can see them in the pic below. Once you push in on the pins, pull up and it should pop right out. The wire attached to it goes to the light bulb that illuminates the letters. I did NOT touch that. I left it in. I did not want to take chances on it burning out or getting grease on it. Once you have freed the white trim from the shifter, follow the black light bulb wire to the clips that hold the wire tight. This will allow you to let the white plastic trim hang freely. Now, we have the room to work effectively. Remember the up close pic of the wires that were tucked in above? Here it is again: Ok, we need to work those tucked wires out. This will let us get to it's clip and release it. Once you have done that, you can now install it per the direction that came with your PLCMAN boards. Here is mine: Notice some things of the pic above: The black wires line up on my board and the black wire is in the bottom position on the shifter. Arial Shot: From here, it is easy peasy. The hard parts are done. You have some finishing steps to clean it all up and make it look nice. Rather than using the heat shrink for the board, I just used electrical tape. This way, if i need to remove, reinstall (after a trip to the dealer - just in case something goes wrong) the wiring, I can do so without having much trouble: Next, I pulled all of the excess wire back into the base of the steering column so there is no loose wires in the console and used the shrink tube to keep things neat. I then zip tied it to the base of the column: Now, all you have to do is put things back in reverse order and you are dialed! All-in-all, it took me about 3 hours. Difficulty Scale: 1 out of 5
Awesome writeup! I'll be doing this sometime in the next few years!! LOL All the stuff I need is sitting in a drawer!
Not like this. The 08's got rid of the two spares in the Clock Spring. You will have to go with the Shift Hammer.
