VW gear knob removal? change gaitier

[Z Man]

i want to change the gaitier in my VW passat '98... i think the gear knob set up is the same on all the VW's of this age...

any idea how i get the knob off? i tried swisting it and it wont budge...

cheers

[glynnd]

unclip the bottom of the gaiter from the center console. lift the gaiter up and expose the bottom of the gearknob. you will see a metal collar gripping the bottom of the gear knob to the gear stick. break the metal collar and pull the gear knob off.;)

[Brian Rouse]

Pull the gater up and you will see a clip underneath that holds the gater on. The gater and knob are joined together and come of as a unit.

[lozza24]

I've just changed the knob on my 2002 Passat TDi but found it very difficult to break the clip. So instead I actually cut off the plastic lip with a stanley knife and pulled the clip down. The knob then came off and I could take the clip off. This proved essential as the universal gear knob I was fitting had no means of attaching the gaiter. I cut a section off the bottom of the old oem knob and inserted it into the new knob. Then I could reattach the old gaiter without having to buy any new parts.