How to remove the plastic piece surrounding the floor shift?

[Dibbons]

Hi, I need to remove the rectangular plastic piece that goes around the 5-speed shifter and shifter boot and the four-wheel drive shift lever. Mine is rectangular and gray in color and I don't see any screws anywhere. Does it just pry off by releasing some hidden tabs or are there some hidden fasteners/screws somewhere? (I need to remove all of the carpeting and padding because I need to locate the source of the passenger side floorboard getting wet). This is a standard cab 96 Dodge Dakota 3.9L with standard transmission and four-wheel drive. Thank you.

 

[65 sporty]

Any pic's of it? It would help if we could see it.

 

[Dibbons]

Here's a generic foto, mine looks about the same except the shifter is a different length.

 

[65 sporty]

If you pull back the edge of the boot are there screws under it?

 

[Dibbons]

I'll let you know, will do some further checking tomorrow, thanks.

 

[LocuMob]

Passenger side floor getting wet? Check your drain tubes just in front of your windshield, under the hood. My girlfriends Avenger was letting in tons of water, I cleaned them out, they were packed! No more water in the interior. That might save you some trouble, and it should be fairly easy to do. I would hate to see you take out the carpet and not find anything. It's harder for water to get inside from the bottom that the top.

 

[7mopar]

Ytube was worthless on this one and as usual Hayes did not even know the boot cover existed.
Have you checked for heater core leaks or the A/C evaporator drain tube?

 

[Dibbons]

The wet stuff is not coolant for sure. I found the trick to removing the plastic piece surrounding the gear shift, there are four small bolts under the rubber shift boot. The shift boot has a solid plastic tab built in to the forward portion and two spring loaded metal tabs built into the rear portion. To remove the boot, press the boot forward gently while lifting the rear of the boot up. It should pop off. Do not lift the front of the boot because you could possibly break the front locating tab.

I removed the floor covering and I am now running the A/C for a few days to see if the A/C drain is plugged and dripping inside. If it stays dry, I will go to the car wash and see if the pressure hose was shooting water inside the last time I washed the truck.