Anyone Replaced the Gear Stick Gaiter on Polo 6c

[Gee40]

I've bought a new leather gaiter for my wife's 6c GTI as the plastic once is starting to crack and looks tatty. Looking at "How to" clips on You Tube, removing the gear knob and attached gaiter looks relatively straight forward, however I can only find clips that show the gear stick and gaiter being replaced by a complete new gear knob and pre attached gaiter (usually from a Mk7 Golf GTI) and nothing showing a new gaiter being attached to the original gear knob.

Any help would be much appreciated

[RUM4MO]

My only helpful tip from doing that job on my wife's 2002 9N Polo back in maybe 2009, is, try not to destroy the original clip holding the gaitor to the knob as really is best to reuse it and not a Jubilee clip as some people did/do on that age of VW, "bits" stick out of a Jubilee clip and that can damage the new leather, you can of course buy a new "eared clip" is you need it, again if the design has remained roughly the same. Either way it probably means that you will end up with sore fingers, but that is a price worth paying to end up with what you.

[amer6R]

The gaiter fabric is glued to the plastic trim piece, Im not sure if its also stapled into the plastic. But i remember its glued.

If you think jubilee clip would rub you could put some cloth tape over it.

[RUM4MO]

The older 2002 9N at least, had staples to fix the gaitor to the plastic part, I either reused the staples or used new ones in the original holes in the plastic, and closed/tightened them using pliers.

[Gee40]

Thanks for the replies so far. To be honest my concern is how to attach the narrow part of the gaiter to the gear knob rather than attaching the wider part to the base trim - I'd be happy to glue it. From what I can see on the existing original gaiter and on VW workshop diagrams it appears to "trapped" somehow between the gear knob and what appears to be a plastic ring/washer, but I don't think the plastic ring is designed to be loosened and reused - it looks like it will break at the drop of a hat. I will go to VW to see if this plastic ring is available separately, but in truth I fear not, so if I break it or cant tuck the new leather gaiter between it and the gear knob and then resecure it, I'll likely be looking at £150+ for a new leather gear knob and OEM plastic tat gaiter. If this is the case its pretty shoddy IMO. Plastic gaiters have a relatively short service life before they start cracking and peeling etc so to use a design that appears to requires the complete replacement of the gear knob and gaiter in one, for what is a few £s worth of plastic gaiter demonstrates the bean counters rule the world and VWs reputation for build quality is no longer deserved

[RUM4MO]

Now that you have mentioned that plastic ring, yes that was the same design of assembling/fixing the top of the gaiter on my wife's old 2002 9N Polo, I did manage to remove that ring intact - probably not a 2 minute job, and fitted it back on despite the new leather probably being thicker than the original harder leather.

I was in a better situation than you though, the supplier of my new soft/supple leather gaiter requested that the old gaiter was sent to them so that they could measure it up -so maybe they were just starting to supply gaiters for that model of Polo at that time. So, I grabbed a used same age and part number knob-gaiter, stripped it down and sent it's gaiter away as a sample, and as this job of re-assembling looked a bit tricky, I fitted the new leather gaiter to this used leather covered correct type, gear knob - so much less worry of ending up breaking anything.

From vague memory, not always something that you can trust, I think that how that system of plastic "stem" and "cup ring" works, is that there is a thin raised ring around the "stem" and a matching groove around the inner surface of the "cup ring" - so too remove it you need to jam something like a flat screwdriver blade in, using a few at the same time at equal spacing around the "cup ring" should work better than attacking it at a single point at a time. Refitting was not much easier, but possible!

I'd think that there is absolutely no chance of getting individual spare parts for that knob-gaiter assembly from VW Group.

Edit:- also, if the find that there are metal staples securing the leather to the lower plastic part, consider using strong black thread to secure it back onto that lower plastic trim - even if there are no metal staples, you can always drill a lot of small holes to pass the strong thread through.

Tip:- to remove the knob from the gear lever, if it secured using an "eared clip" or "twin eared clip", use a couple of suitably sized screwdrivers to open the "ears" back up enough so that you can pull the knob off the lever - then after completing this job, close the "ear" or "ears" back down using blunted pliers, so that you don't end up cutting through the "ear"/"ears".

[amer6R]

The ring that holds the gaiter on mine knob didnt crack. And i think you will get a new on with a new shift knob.
In worse case you can use a zip tie, like on jdm cars...

[Gee40]

Thanks Chaps

Ive been to VW and you are spot on Rum4mo. a rather embarrassed parts man apologised that the 50 pence plastic ring is not available separately and sheepish quoted £154 inc VAT for a new complete new gearknob and plastic gaiter.

The plan is to have a go at fitting the new leather gaiter I've bought and if the plastic ring breaks I'll try a small cable tie - the idea of stitching the new gaiter to the base is borderline genius! If disaster strikes I'll have to part with £154 but I'll but none too happy at VW's approach to quality . The new leather gaiter cost me just £11 on ebay which I'm sure with VW's purchasing power they could source for less than £5 so they have saving pennies on a car that cost me £19K by fitting plastic tatt that lasts a few years and then want £154 to replace it

[amer6R]

I have that type of knob, its leather ( its not original) and the car is parked outside and 0 issues for few years now.

I'd rather buy a replacement know if it breaks, 150+ for a knob seams outrageous.

[Gee40]

Thanks Amer6R. I am going to have a go at replacing just the Gaiter with a leather one but just in case it goes wrong I'd be grateful if you could let me have to details of the aftermarket one pictured - due you have a link. Cheers

[amer6R]

Thanks Amer6R. I am going to have a go at replacing just the Gaiter with a leather one but just in case it goes wrong I'd be grateful if you could let me have to details of the aftermarket one pictured - due you have a link. Cheers

Its golf 7 gtd shift knob. But I'd recommend sticking to 6R or 6C because this one requires modofication.

[Gee40]

Finally took the plunge and 3 hours later, successfully managed to change the plastic tatt gaiter for a leather replacement and not to put to finer point on it, what a ******* PITA it was.

The first challenge was to carefully prise the 4 retaining lugs of the black plastic cup ring(which traps the gaiter between it and the bottom of the gear knob) over the ridge of the plastic stem that secures the gear knob. This involved the bosses hair drier to try and soften the cup so it didn't break and cost me £154 then very carefully lift then one at a time with a flat blade screwdriver and then slide 4 small strips of cut down Pepsi can ( Other drinks are available ) which allowed me to slide the cup ring off and then remove the old gaiter. Next I had to remove the old gaiter from the flimsy plastic frame its stapled too before reversing the process and securing the new leather gaiter to the frame with contact adhesive as the frame and gaiter is too thick for a desk stapler but not strong enough to cope with the pressure need to use a staple gun. The final challenge was to reseat the black cup ring as the leather is much thicker than the vinyl and so I had to hacksaw off a couple of mm from the cups plastic lugs to allow them to fit over the ridges on the plastic stem.

I've replaced the vinyl gaiter on our other car (Fiat 124 Spider) which took about 15mins and can say with absolute confidence that for once, the Italian mantra of maximum benefit for minimum effort is much better than the German desire to over engineer/complicate things.

I'm off to lie down in a dark room!

[ciclo]

Patience and Buddhist level meditation to recently get a Chinese electronic module working took me to the Next Level, I am now open to any invention of any provenance...
Thanks for sharing your experience!