Preparation

What you'll need:

• 10mm socket and handle, or box-end or open-end wrench (depending on the socket wrench, you may also need a short extension)
• 12mm box-end or open-end wrench
• Molybdenum disulfide grease
• New shift lever locating bolt (a special 12mm bolt with a round pin about one half inch long protruding from the “point” end)
• Rags

Disassembly

1. Remove front carpet, if necessary.
2. Place the gear shift lever in the “neutral” position.
3. Using the 10mm socket, remove the four bolts holding the frame retaining the rectangular interior gear shift lever boot (Suzuki calls this “boot No. 2” in the manual).
4. Remove the gear shift lever knob.
5. Work the frame off and lift the frame up and off the gear shift lever.
6. Pull “boot No. 2” up and off the gear shift lever.
7. Pull the round gear shift lever case boot (Suzuki calls this “boot No. 1” in the manual) up the gear shift lever to allow access to the gear shift lever case cover bolts.
8. Use the 10mm socket to remove the three bolts holding the gear shift lever case cover.
9. Pull the gear shift lever straight up out of the case, along with “boot No. 1” and the gear shift lever case cover.
10. Using a 12mm wrench, remove the gear shift lever locating bolt. It is on the back (towards the rear of the vehicle) of the gear shift lever case. Save the lock washer!
11. Locate the loose gear shift lever locating bolt broken end, approximately one half inch long and 1/8 inch diameter, lying in the bottom of the gear shift lever case. It will not have fallen far. Make sure to find the broken pin and fish it out by whatever means necessary, so that it doesn't later end up down in the guts of your transmission.

Note: Mine happened to be still protruding from the hole in which it was originally inserted, and I couldn't remove it by hand, because it had broken about one and a half threads back. I ultimately forced it out of the hole (and into the gear shift lever case) by cranking a longer 12mm bolt into the hole from which I had originally removed the broken gear shift lever locating bolt.

Installing the new gear shift lever locating bolt

1. Place the lock washer saved in step 7 above over the new gear shift lever locating bolt. Do not clean the blue compound off the threads!
2. Crank the new bolt in snugly. (10.5-14 lb-ft.) The gear shift lever case is aluminum so don't over-torque!
3. Clean out slopped grease and any dirt and grime from the parts you've removed.

Reassembly

1. Lightly lube the bottom end of the gear shift lever.
2. Make sure the "flat" portion faces “up” on the broad heads of the two pins you can see on the left and right inside walls of the gear shift lever case.
3. Align the notch in the back of the bottom of the gear shift lever with the new gear shift lever locating pin, and press the gear shift lever straight down into the gear shift lever case. You should feel the lever “click” into place.
4. Slide the gear shift lever case cover down onto the top of the gear shift lever case and align the holes.
5. Reinstall the three gear shift lever case cover bolts. Torque to 3-5 lb-ft. Once again, the gear shift lever case is made of aluminum! Be careful not to over-torque!
6. Slide “boot No. 1” down over the top of the gear shift lever case.
7. Place “boot No. 2” over the end of the gear shift lever and slide it down.
8. Align the holes in “boot No. 2” with the holes in the transmission tunnel and press the boot down firmly.
9. Slide the retaining frame down over the gear shift lever and “boot No. 2” and align the holes with the holes in “boot No. 2” and the transmission tunnel.
10. Reinstall the four retaining bolts for the frame and boot and snug them down.
11. Replace front carpet, if necessary.

Done! Enjoy your newly “tightened” shifter. Learn to shift all over again!