Dear Blindboy,

Hope you;re well. I understand about the cold. The shifter's arm indeed is plastic. To help loosen the nut, use PB Blaster or a similar penetrating oil. It may take repeated saturations and time, for the oil to work its way through micro-channels in the corrosion. Heavier oils will not get through those micro-channels, especially when it is cold: oil viscosity increases as the temperature falls.

The actuator bar - that connects the shifter arm to the transmission - is secured to the shifter arm with a 13mm hex nut. That nut is mounted on a stud, that can rotate: the stud is secured to the shifter arm with an E-clip. Behind the actuator arm's slotted flat end, there's another - inner - hex nut. To loosen the outer hex nut, you need to hold the inner hex nut. That keeps the stud from turning.

To hold the inner hex nut, you'll neither either a slim head open-end wrench or a or a narrow-jaw vise-grip pliers. To hold the inner hex nut, I used a bent-tip, narrow-jaw vise grip pliers.

If the hex nut will not come loose, remove the E-clip. Use a small (1/8", 3mm) flat-tip screwdriver. Then, pull the stud out of the shifter's arm. You might want to order a replacement E-clip, just in case the E-clip - likely corroded - breaks or "launches". I do not know if this E-clip is a standard size or whether it is a dealer-only unit.

Be prepared to spend some time replacing the E-clip.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook