Squint Gear knob

[DickBarton]

Hi,

I removed my front facia yesterday to replace the stereo that was in the car with my own one...no real performance improvement but I know how it works and was struggling with the previous radio unit - clearly hitting random buttons didn't do the same thing so it had to be replaced!

So I unscrewed the gear lever knob and that allowed me to remove the gearstick cover, which in turn allowed me to remove the front facia...got the stereo replaced (and have now lost the boost gauge, oil gauge and air flow gauge as I'm unsure if the red wire is standard for power on all head units...unsure where I should plug these gauge controls into on the new head unit wiring!) and everything back in place...but my gearstick knob didn't remain tight on the gear stick and now spins a bit freely...so if I tighten it up the leather cover spins round and the knob doesn't sit at the 12 o'clock position...in fact it is now at the 7 o'clock position...any suggestions on how to get the gear stick back to the 12 o'clock with it firmly in place to stop it spinning???

Thanks.

[Kieran]

Errr, maybe a bit of threadlock on the shaft and then screw into position and leave to set?

[Nutter_John]

ptfe tape is another option that I have used before

[ANTHONY]

i had that, so i stuck a peice of cardboard in the gear knob. ok now

[DickBarton]

Thought about the threadlock bit but figured if it had been put in and set like that previously surely I should be able to dot it again...then got it in my head that perhaps the threads sat on a revolving mount inside the gear head and that I'd knocked it loose...sorry very stupid questions as I'm not exactly technically minded with a car yet...I know the ins-and-outs of mountain bikes completely and quite happy to take it to bits and sort...but a car is a bit more technical and I'm needing to learn!

Will try the threadlock idea...will leave it overnight, thanks.

[BraindG]

or a thin washer so that it stops in the right place when you screw it in.

[Paul Beazer]

Isnt there a nut with a spring / locking washer on the gearstick shaft? Just screw the nut down the threads to let the knob move clockwise, unscrew nut slightly to move the gearknob anticlockwise.