Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting shifter knob wiring

96 contour 4cyl auto

The side screw fell out of the shifter knob. I pulled the knob up the shaft slightly and when I pushed it back down, I damaged the overdrive button wires.
What is the method to use when installing a replacement knob as to not damage the wires.

Welcome . IIRC, you either extend the wires or access it from under the car.

extend.

EXTEND EXTEND EXTEND!!! you don't wanna go under the car for this.. uch: I mean.. .you MIGHT want to, I don't know you, but I wouldn't want to.

OKay, this is what I do know. The overdrive switch wires are connected above the floor tunnel, but under the consol. They are not under the car. They are male/female connections. The wires are routed around the shifter linkage and up the shaft.
What I do not know and can not see is inside the molded plastic shifter knob. That is where the switch is and the problem is. Does the knob disassemble and reassemble? Is there a method to getting the shift knob onto the shaft while not damaging the wires? Thanks for your interest.

Hi, I did this once and broke the wires in the shifter too when I put in speaker wires under the console as part of my stereo. I had to get a new shift knob. If I remember right, the shift knob comes straight up off the shaft but only a little. You don't want to twist it. So you have to lift it straight up but not toooo hard or toooo far. I think an inch or two was about it. The wires are tiny so break very easily. Hope this helps...

Welcome Contour 97 and thanks for posting.

Contour97 gave a good description.

One thing you do NOT want to do is lengthen the wires, unless you can tie them into a bundle that stays in the shaft (as I did). The reason I say this is because if you extend the wires and reinstall your shifter, the new length will get the wires caught in the plastic assembly towards the floor when you shift from reverse to drive and so forth.

If your wires disconnected at the soldered point on the button itself.. that IS an issue, and I have no expertise going there. The plastic shifter iirc doesnt come apart easily, at least from when I tinkered with mine. My advice would be to pull one from a bone yard for a couple bucks; you can snip almost all the wire with it, too, so that you have some slack in case it ever happens again.

One last thing. Use 3M brand splice connectors and wrap them with electrical tape when you're done. Reason I say this is because somehow my splice connectors grounded onto my car and shorted the entire car out in a very very busy intersection. I was not happy to be dodging cars as I pushed mine through the intersection

Hope this helps some.

-Bill