DIY: S-Tronic Knob swap

[brainpan]

A little off topic but couldn't help to notice that yours and Brainpan shifter have no "S" mode?

not sure about his car, but on my B8 S4 when i put the ADS to dynamic it changes from D to S on my center DIS. i drive in manual mode 99% of the time though... my past 3 audi's were manuals, so i'm used to shifting lol.

yup mines the same way

[Calbee]

thanks! 2011.



very nice! although for that price you can buy (2) S-tronic ones (you reuse your boot).. i think it'd look better than having an S4 badge in an A4 also. here is mine after i installed it:

whats the diff between the two? looks pretty similar

[Spartan300]

A little off topic but couldn't help to notice that yours and Brainpan shifter have no "S" mode?

unfortunately, i scratched it from the inside, removing some of the black back painting and chrome strip. i touched it up and it's okay for now, but i will probably replace it eventually!



not sure about his car, but on my B8 S4 when i put the ADS to dynamic it changes from D to S on my center DIS. i drive in manual mode 99% of the time though... my past 3 audi's were manuals, so i'm used to shifting lol.

Any ADS equiped car will not have the S on the shifter as it's replaced with Dynamic mode setting with ADS.

[Spartan300]

On the way to my house right now from [email protected]. S4 Post-Facelift S-Tronic Shift Knob and Boot - $279.00 each (Retail - $412.50)

I would love the post S4 shifter, not available with perforated leather. The perforated leather unit has Stronic written on it. Not a big deal but as usual what I want isn't available!!!

[Highlander1010]

I just received mine in the mail from Alex! I'll have to install it in about a week or so, but I'm really looking forward to getting rid of the ugly, clunky auto shifter and looking more like a 6-spd.

[Ryan_T]

That heat/twist process is scary. What happens if I snap it...?

[Highlander1010]

You buy a new plastic piece.

[d.p]

I ordered mine off ebay, from here http://myworld.ebay.com/tuning-fanat...84.m1439.l2754 for $131 shipped.

Will post back once its installed.

[Ryan_T]

How involved to refit that...?

[d.p]

I think if you break the plastic piece that you heat up you have to buy a new assembly. So don't break it.

[name.goes.here]

I think if you break the plastic piece that you heat up you have to buy a new assembly. So don't break it.

I can't imagine replacement of the assembly would be cheap, either.

[d.p]

I read somewhere $900 or so.

[Maximum]

Finally got it to work! Thanks!

[A4 Centaur]

I have been thinking about this MOMO knob as well: http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/m...l-p-44077.html

[brainpan]

Finally got it to work! Thanks!

Hooray! Happy to hear :D

What was the problem?

[Maximum]

I took off the knob and heated and twisted about a centimeter it seemed and it worked! I didn't think it would be so temperamental! The button does not stick out much does it? Or is it me but at least the button works now! I was not going to settle until i got it right!

Thanks again for your help!

[Highlander1010]

I have been thinking about this MOMO knob as well: http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/m...l-p-44077.html

Ugly IMHO, but it's your car.

[if6ws9]

What is the grey plastic part that's on the table (2nd pic below step #7)?

[brainpan]

What is the grey plastic part that's on the table (2nd pic below step #7)?

It's inserted in the new knob for shipping, I think it was to prevent the trigger from getting pulled

[if6ws9]

It's inserted in the new knob for shipping, I think it was to prevent the trigger from getting pulled

Thanks.

[Highlander1010]

I would love the post S4 shifter, not available with perforated leather. The perforated leather unit has Stronic written on it. Not a big deal but as usual what I want isn't available!!!

I'm going to wrap the top logo to mask the S4 bit. Not 100% sure what color yet...likely gloss black or silver to match interior bits.

[Ms.S4]

Has anyone actually botched this job and fucked up the plastic piece??

[if6ws9]

DO NOT PRESS SHIFTER TRIGGER BEFORE INSTALL, i did and it will lock the trigger into the shifter and you wont be able to install it, it took me a while to figure out how to reset it.

1. Place in neutral, with parking brake
2. Remove boot; there are 4 clips located on the left a right side, i started from the center with a slotted screw driver and worked my way around the clips, once free just lift up
3. Pull the shifter trigger out, its under spring tension, pull it out far enough so you can slip a zip tie through it.
4. Pull the boot over the knob, you will notice a metallic clip wrapping around the boot, remove the clip. Its a pain to get off, i ended up braking it off to remove it.
5. At this point you can remove the original knob and boot. Just give it a good upwards pull and it should pop right off, mine released easily. DONT PRESS THE TRIGGER while pulling up, it will fuck up the knob internals.
6. Now the dicey part, as you will notice the S-tronic knob has its pull trigger at the front of the knob, while the stock one's located on the left. To make the s-tronic shifter compatible, you must heat up the white plastic shift stock and rotate it 90 degrees. I used a heat gun to heat the plastic. Take your time doing this, if you don't have enough heat you will snap the stock, and to much heat will deform it.
7. Allow it to cool, this is a good time to transfer you original boot to the new knob. I used a zip tie to bring in the plastic tabs, they are a retainer to hold the knob in place. Youll have to do some force to pull it apart. To install the new knob onto the boot just reverse the process and make sure it is seated in all the way.
8. This is a side step because of a problem i ran into. When you heat and twist the plastic stock you will create burs. This will cause the plastic stock to get caught up in the shifter and your trigger on the shifter wont return. I used medium grade sand paper to smooth out the stock, and a small file.

9. To install the new knob, just reverse these steps. I replace the broken metal clip with a zip tie, works fine(step 4)

Note: When you initially press the new knob onto the stock, make sure you are seated all the way, take note how far down from the original knob. Once its seated you can pull the trigger, this is to set the latching mech, make sure you can press the trigger and have it return on its own. If it does not return all likely hood is that you need to do some more sanding, but if you have to remove it again DO NOT FORGET to insert a zip tie under the trigger like with the original removal.

It was an easy install took about 40 minutes plus all that other bullshit i put myself through by pressing the trigger pre install and then burs on the stock, so hopefully this will help others out there

What creates the latching difficulty, burrs on the shaft or in the hole?

[shonseb]

Has anyone actually botched this job and fucked up the plastic piece??

Somebody did and snapped the plastic piece. Apparently he was pretty good with model building so he used a threading rod to bring the two pieces together (basically screwing them together) and after doing that it basically gave him the ability to turn the plastic piece anyway he desired. This also gave him the ability to return to stock if needed. It was an older thread and it was a couple of pages in. He didn't have a DIY of it though.

Edit found it:

http://forums.fourtitude.com/showthr...1#post68367745

[if6ws9]

Somebody did and snapped the plastic piece. Apparently he was pretty good with model building so he used a threading rod to bring the two pieces together (basically screwing them together) and after doing that it basically gave him the ability to turn the plastic piece anyway he desired. This also gave him the ability to return to stock if needed. It was an older thread and it was a couple of pages in. He didn't have a DIY of it though.

I saw that thread recently. He provided a link for the part but it was no longer for sale (see link at end of post). It was a clever solution. Link to screw/socket: http://www.ebay.com/itm/M2-x-8mm-Soc.../180448524507?

[dscline]

The button does not stick out much does it?

Is this the case for everyone? I just did this swap, and at first I thought something was wrong because after putting the knob and pressing the button, it didn't pop back out. I took it off, and spent forever trying to get it to pop back out. Once I got it out I put the knob back on and it was doing the same thing. Then I realized that it does actually work, the issue is simply that the button barely sticks out at all... it has probably somewhere around 1/8" of travel, or maybe just slightly more. Is everyone's like that? That 1/8" is enough for the button to work, I just fear that if that plastic rod stretches or wears at all, one day that 1/8" of button travel won't be enough and I'll be stuck somewhere not able to get it out of (or into) park. There doesn't appear to be any burs or anything, it moves freely, it just doesn't pop out hardly at all. It looks nice, but it does make me a bit uneasy from a reliability perspective.

[Maximum]

I had the same issue at first. I could select gears without pushing the button. The problem I had was that I did not heat and twist the stock enough. After that, it popped right in and I have had no issues since. Hope this helps.

[dscline]

I had the same issue at first. I could select gears without pushing the button .

I couldn't/can't shift w/o pushing the button, it's just that the button didn't pop back out very far, so the difference between its resting point and fully depressed was very short. But after playing with it some, I realized it could pop out further, it was just hanging up. After pulling the button out the entire way then pressing it several times, it now has full travel. So there is apparently some friction there, it either needs some tweaking, or grease. But it works fine for now, so I'll deal with that next weekend. I'm still a bit concerned that the lock doesn't release until the last 1/8" or so of travel, but perhaps the original knob was like that too but I never noticed.

[Maximum]

Sorry I misread your post. Mine does not come out ver far either but seems to work just fine.

[benben01]

This was a great write up and the tips were invaluable. I spent over 2 hours this evening getting my new knob to work. After a lot of back and forth fittings and making my own tool out of a coat hanger to reset the trigger, the new knob looked and worked great. There is plenty of travel in the trigger. All I can say is be patient and trim the plastic piece on the shifter to make it smooth and uniform. I used a razor blade instead of sandpaper and it worked out really well.

[pratiksoni1]

Hello everyone,

Finally knob is fully functional all you have to do is use a sharp nail filer and file around the top and side areas of the plastic to make it smooth and then try to place the knob on the stick and keep repeating unless you have a smooth button press.

Big thanks to brainpan without his post this was not possible.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[redavant]

brainpan - thank you very much for such an awesome write-up. I am very grateful. I took your instructions and.... it looks awesome. Everything works after some filing. Love it!

[djrabbi]

Sooo I got my shifter button stuck..... any ideas?


Sorry for bringing thread back to life.

[if6ws9]

Sooo I got my shifter button stuck..... any ideas?


Sorry for bringing thread back to life.

Someone covered it; try the search feature.

[The Infiltrator]

brainpan - thank you very much for such an awesome write-up. I am very grateful. I took your instructions and.... it looks awesome. Everything works after some filing. Love it!

Mine has always been stuck since the install a couple years ago. I like it that way since it's an easy pull back with the brake applied.

[djrabbi]

That shift knob makes a worlds difference for the interior

[shaunm82]

That shift knob makes a worlds difference for the interior

Agreed. Makes me want to do this now lol.

[The Infiltrator]

Agreed. Makes me want to do this now lol.

You won't regret it!

[Nastybutler]

Mine has always been stuck since the install a couple years ago. I like it that way since it's an easy pull back with the brake applied.

Mine isn't fully stuck, but I only have to use the button to get it out of Park. Once it's past Park, it moves without the button being pressed. Weird, but I'm used to it now.

[djrabbi]

I did a search and can't find how to "reset" the stuck position. I tried putting a hook inside and turning it but no go. I am currently stuck in the Neutral position and cannot gear out