DIY: remove/install Civic/Acura shifter linkage spring pin or "b*tch" pin
 

This is a "how to" for solving a problem the pisses-off Honda Civic, Accord, and Acura owners whenever they have to disconnect/reinstall the shifter linkage to work on their clutch or transmission. I thought I'd offer what I learned back to the forum that helped me do the transmission swap.

Here's a guy with the "destroy-the-pin-forever-by-drilling-it-out-and-then-replacing-it-with-a-bolt-not-specified" solution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmws0us_A00

As this guy discovered removing this pin while laying on the ground, like I also was recently, is a PITA that can leave you stuck for hours or longer. His solution is clever but the boot is not covering the input shaft as completely as it is supposed to. OEM calls for the pin to be covered by the boot. Keeps the road gunk out. Here's a better way:

TO REMOVE THE PIN:

Use a pin punch tool such as this below. The Honda service manual calls for an 8mm punch, but I found removal easier with a 6.9mm one because it was less likely to hit the sides of the linkage instead of the pin. I bought a set at Home Depot for about $12, I think. I'll bet that's less than the price of the pin itself, and you won't have to wait for Honda to deliver it to the dealership. Removal takes firm, confident strokes. It will at first likely move only a little at a time. Pin punches:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1365900860

And I used this guy's work as a model for how to hit the pin (note his work on linkage beginning at 5:00):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9aYSracB0s

TO REINSTALL THE PIN:

The following simple method worked for me while lying under the car, using the same pin that I had removed, still in good shape.

(1) You'll need a nail thin enough to thread through the spring pin with room to spare and long enough to protrude from the top of the linkage after you thread it through the pin and the hole in the linkage that the pin will go into. The head of the nail must be as wide as the diameter of the pin itself (about 8mm).

(2) You'll need a small piece of cork, shaved maybe from a wine cork.

(3) Thread the nail through the pin and the linkage, hold it there, and poke the cork onto the top of the nail on the top of the shifter linkage.

(4) The pin and nail should be able to suspend themselves comfortably and kinda firmly in place without you holding them.

(5) Wack the nail head with good confident strokes until the pin starts to thread in. The nail will probably drop to the ground after a few strokes, leaving the pin started on its journey into the shifter linkage...

This will work in a couple minutes, while lying on the ground, saving you a pin, a parts trip, and days of waiting for the delivery.

Good luck.

I got irritated enough at not having room enough to swing my hammer that I unbolted the linkage at the other end and took it out with the transmission.

Pounding the pin out with the transmission on the bench was a whole lot easier. (I was actually swapping out the transmission at the time.)

-soD

Haha! Excellent. But if you were just replacing the oil seal on the shifter linkage, you would still need to remove the spring pin while under the car. BTW, how much work is involved in removing the other end of the shifter linkage? Special tools or just a wrench?

Just a wrench or a socket. I forget which size, though. Probably 12mm, since half of everything on those Hondas uses a 12mm socket. ;)

I can see how you wouldn't want to remove the transmission just for that one seal. :) In that case, you obviously need to get the car higher up in the air than I had mine. Yet another occasion that a lift would have been exceedingly convenient.

-soD

You would have to remove that pin to do the oil seal no matter where the trans is. But usually it's easier to take the linkage off.

Here is a little tool that I made for the job:

Honda Civic CRX Transmission Shift Linkage Roll Pin Removal Tool ***** Pin | eBay

It makes the shift pin removal/installation a non-issue.

Some call it the "Bit_h Pin". Simple to take out with an air hammer.. it has a few different attachments, one being pointy that pokes it right out.... Comes out in like a second. Also will put it right back in easily.