The ASE CD009 front mount shifter relocation has been in production for close to a decade. In that time the overwhelming majority of support tickets we receive about it have had nothing to do with the product. They come down to two modifications that get skipped during installation.
This guide walks the complete install from a bare transmission on the bench through setting the reverse lockout. It applies equally to CD-series and JK-series transmissions — aside from the bell housing bolt pattern and minor cosmetic differences, nothing in this procedure changes between the two.
Watch the full installation
Read this before you start
This installation is irreversible. The selector shaft has to be cut and flipped, and the transmission case has to be clearanced. Once you make those cuts there is no returning the transmission to stock form without sourcing another selector shaft — which realistically means buying another transmission. Decide before you pick up a cut-off wheel.
The two modifications that account for nearly every reported problem:
- Shortening the side detent plungers by 3/16" to 1/4". Roughly 95% of install issues trace back to this single step.
- Clearancing the rear of the transmission case. This accounts for most of the remainder.
Neither is difficult. Both are non-negotiable.
Step-by-step installation
1. Remove the shift linkage
You need a set of punches and a hammer. There are two roll pins — one center, one outer. With the correct punch size you can drive both out at once. Work on the ground rather than vertically if you can; standing the transmission up means most of your hammer force just tips the case. Try to stop before the pin exits completely, since leaving it seated in the outer clevis makes realignment far easier on reassembly. The linkage must come off or the tail case will not slide.
2. Remove the service cover
Pull the cover bolts. There is a spring and a loose ball bearing underneath. Secure the ball before it disappears. There is also a roll pin on the inside that has to come out for the front mount shifter.
3. Remove the center detent
The larger interior detent unscrews and transfers into the wider adapter supplied in the kit, which repositions it slightly toward the outer case. This detent is what gives you the fore-and-aft feel and keeps the box from popping out of gear. The original shoulder bolts get reused.
4. Remove and shorten the side detents
The side caps are 27 mm. Pull the caps, plungers, and springs from both sides. Shorten each plunger by 3/16" to 1/4", trimming the flat back end — not the rounded end that rides in the bore.
Here is why this matters. The ASE shaft coupler is wider than the factory component. If you reinstall the plungers at their original length, they bottom out inside the caps. With the plungers bottomed, the shaft cannot tip left or right at all. The symptom is unmistakable: the shifter will not enter the left gate for first and second, will not reach the right gate for fifth and sixth, and will not find reverse.
Do not replace the springs. Aftermarket stiffer springs are sold for OEM transmissions without this shifter and carry far more tension than this assembly wants. Your spring rate already increases because the spring sits more collapsed after the plunger is shortened. Keep the factory springs, and keep track of which spring came from which side.
5. Remove the tail case
With the linkage, both side detents, both springs, both caps, and the interior detent all removed, nothing is holding the case. There is one bolt on the inside, visible once the service cover is off. Crack the remaining perimeter bolts, then break the sealer loose at an overhang point — you will hear a hollow note when the seal releases. Done cleanly this takes under five minutes.
While the front plate is off, do not push on the exposed shafts. Pushing one down can bottom it and lock the transmission in gear, which means tearing it back apart. Have the factory front plate or the bell housing ready to go before you get here.
6. Clearance the rear of the case
Cut a square relief around the shaft coupler travel area at the back of the case, out to the original gasket line, roughly an eighth of an inch deep.
The coupler will look like it clears without this. It does — statically. On the road in third gear the shaft travels rearward and sits at its closest point to the case, and harmonics close the remaining gap. The result is a transmission that pops out of third. Discovering this after assembly means pulling the transmission back out of the car and stripping it again.
7. Trim and flip the selector shaft
Drive out the lower roll pin. Cut the shaft roughly an eighth of an inch behind the hole. Stay close to the hole — the coupler pocket has limited depth, and leaving excess material means the pin holes will not line up.
The shaft then flips, so the existing hole at the cut end lands inside the coupler. When cutting, orient the wheel so it pulls away from you rather than kicking back. Steady the shaft to stop it bouncing, get a groove started, then stand clear.
8. Install the shaft coupler
Clean the cut edge. Start the first roll pin partway, slide the shaft in, line up the hole, and drive it through from the back. Chamfer the leading edge before reassembly so it does not tear the seal or damage the bushing and bearing stack on the way through.
The second pin is the original — only one is supplied. Check orientation before driving either pin. The coupler face must point toward the main shaft. Getting this upside down means pulling both pins back out.
9. Install the center detent adapter
The factory center detent you removed in step three bolts into the wider adapter supplied with the kit, reusing the original shoulder bolts. This goes on before the tail case. Reversing the order means pulling the case back off to reach it.
10. Reassemble the tail case
Clean the transmission, apply silicone around the mating surface the same way the factory sealer ran, and slide the case back on, guiding the shaft through the bushing and bearing.
11. Reinstall the detents
The detent with the cutout for the ball bearing goes on the ball bearing side. Drop the plungers in, springs behind, and snug the caps. These are the plungers you shortened in step four.
12. Assemble the shifter
Reinstall the ball bearing and spring. The gasket sits flat to hold the spring down, and a little silicone under the shifter body seals the rest. Take your time aligning the bushing with the hole — the chamfer is generous but it will still damage if you force it.
The bushing is Nissan part 32861-H7301, shared across S13, S14, and 240SX from roughly 1989 to 1995. Available from any Nissan dealer or from us.
Install the shifter extension in whatever orientation suits your build. Hold the shifter body with a wrench while tightening the jam nut. Freehanding it shears the pin. A loose jam nut later is almost always the cause of a complaint.
13. Set the reverse lockout
Put the transmission in fifth — not sixth. Push all the way right, come back halfway, push forward. Fifth is easier to confirm than sixth because you can only go forward from it, and sixth is easy to confuse with reverse.
Fit the spacers first, then three washers on top, which brings the bracket to roughly pin center. Slide the bracket over against the pin and tighten so it acts as a mechanical stop. Set correctly you can move freely between fifth and sixth, and reverse requires pushing down from neutral to drop underneath the stop.
One thing that surprises people
This is a short shifter, so throw feels smaller than you may expect. Nissan built this transmission so the neutral-to-first/second gate distance equals the neutral-to-reverse distance, while fifth and sixth sit at roughly half that distance. Riders who push all the way over hunting for fifth are usually landing in the reverse gate instead. Each gear engages with an audibly distinct click.
Before you call us
If the shifter will not move left or right, the side detent plungers were not shortened. If the transmission pops out of third on the road, the case was not clearanced. Those two cover almost everything.
For anything else, use the ASE tech support form so we have your build details in front of us.
Get the shifter
CD009 Shifter Relocation — Front Mount, Reverse Lockout Equipped. Note that the front mount cannot be used in a Supra MKIV, Lexus SC300, GS300, or IS300 — in those chassis the shifter lands in the center of the radio. Use the rear mount shifter instead.
When ordering, select CD or JK to match your transmission. The JK top plate has slotted bolt holes; the CD top plate has round bolt holes. This is the only ASE product where that distinction matters — CD and JK adapter plates interchange freely.