The plastic or rubber boot (actually a flexible sheet that resides below the gear shift cover with the p, r, n, d on it)appears to have broken. I can see the shifter linkage inches below the console. Parts of that boot sometimes prevent the shifter from getting into the manual shifter position. Just discovered this situation on a mountain road last weekend. It's my wife's car.

I can move the boot with my fingers to enable the shifter to get to the manual setting, but that is cumbersome and inconvenient. The manual shifter seems to work pretty well when the boot is not in the way.

Can I cut or rip what is left of the boot out, or will that screw up something? Do I need to take it to a Volvo dealer (they always seem to have boat payments due) to fix it? If this is something that I could remove and replace myself, are there tricks to removing the console cover? What is the proper name for the part that has broken?

Thanks in advance for any insights.

Michael
05 v50 T5 geartronic with 120K (no it's not the best Volvo I've owned--that title resides in the bronze 88 740 turbo 5spd wagon, even though it went through two turbos in its brief 180k life)

Don't feel lonely, this has happened to others:

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?144426-shifter-blind-how-to


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My name is Klaus and I am a V♂lv♂holic

Thanks Klaus. You're priceless.

Bingo! In and out in less than an hour, and that included at least 10 minutes of trying to reinstall the shift knob backwards. It just spun around until I realized I had it backwards. A good flashlight helped to see the various clips. I used a plastic putty knife to pry the radio trim off. The trick is to get the top corners loose. The bottom of the trim has tabs that fit down into slots. To reinstall the trim you just put the bottom tabs in the slots and press the top corners in.

And a first: the part was cheaper at the dealer in Montgomery than from FCP, even including the 10% local sales tax. And it was in stock!

Thanks again Klaus, and thanks Volvo Speed. Great pictures and video.