Removing and installing selector mechanism up to 09.98: Audi A3
Step-by-step removing and installing selector mechanism up to 09.98 for the Audi A3: 21 steps. What to remove, in what order, and what to check after.
On early Audi A3 (8L, 1996–2003) cars built up to 09.98, the manual gear selector mechanism comes out from underneath as one unit with its cables. Work starts at the gearbox: the gear selector cable is taken off the selector lever with its washer and self-locking square nut, the gate selector cable is pulled off the relay lever, and the cable support bracket is unbolted. Inside, the boot and gear knob come off. Underneath, the noise insulation, exhaust clamp, cross member and two heat shields have to go before the housing bolts can be removed and the housing dropped. Two points decide the outcome: the connecting piece must clip properly onto the knob on reassembly, and the mechanism has to be adjusted and the exhaust realigned afterwards.
🧭 Before you start
Free both selector cables and their support bracket at the gearbox, then remove the boot and gear knob from inside the car. From below, take off the noise insulation, separate the exhaust at the clamp, remove the cross member and the heat shields, unbolt the housing and pull it down and out with the cables. The knob and boot are reassembled with the connecting piece clipped on. After refitting, adjust the selector mechanism and align the exhaust system.
Fits: Audi A3 (8L, 1996–2003)
Don't miss
- Renew the gasket between selector housing and floor if it is damaged.
- The connecting piece must clip onto the gear knob; lever its prongs outwards to separate.
- Adjust the selector mechanism after installation, before the first drive.
- Realign the exhaust system after reconnecting the clamp.
- General practice: self-locking nuts like the cable square nut are best renewed rather than reused.
Written for this job from the workshop steps below · TorqFix editorial.
📋 Procedure
- Detach gear selector cable (B) from gearbox selector lever.
- Take off gear selector cable with washer and square nut (self-locking).
- Pull gate selector cable off actuating arm/relay lever (C), to do this lift lug in direction of arrow.
- Remove cable support bracket from gearbox (arrows), if necessary unclip pipe/hose assembly at cable support bracket first.
- Lift boot in direction of (arrows) and remove from behind.
- Pull boot up and over gear knob.
- Open clip (arrow) and pull off gear knob together with boot.
- Remove noise insulation .
- Remove securing nuts (arrows).
- Unfasten clamp (arrow A) and disconnect exhaust system.
- Remove cross member (arrow B).
- Remove heat shields (C) and (D) below selector cables.
- Remove securing bolts .
- Pull selector housing down and remove from behind together with selector cables.
- Turn boot inside out.
- Using a screwdriver, lever the prongs (arrows) on the connecting piece outwards.
- Pull connecting piece off gear lever.
- Turn gear knob outwards and pull free of boot.
- Turn boot inside out.
- Insert gear knob in boot.
- Press connecting piece onto gear knob and boot. The connecting piece must clip onto the gear knob. [Note: Renew the gasket between the selector housing and the floor if it is damaged.Adjust selector mechanism .Align exhaust system 26.]
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Who makes these pages, and how
TorqFix was built by a mechanic — after a 2,700 km drive with five roadside repairs that no diagnostic tool could explain.
The figures on this page come from manufacturer workshop documentation and are shown as they are. The page is assembled automatically from that data — it is not written by an AI. The AI works in the chat, where it answers for your specific car. It writes nothing here.
Variants of the same model differ. Cross-check torque against the factory manual for your engine before final tightening.
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The story behind TorqFix →Workshop data on this page last updated 20 Sep 2026.