Looking at replacing the shaft selector seal on my polo and I have a spare (broken) gearbox that I thought I'd try it out on that before attempting on my car. I have read the guides etc but when it says "remove selector shaft" how do you actually get the shaft out of the gearbox?! I don't want to grip it with pliers etc obv it will destroy the shaft but how do you actually get it out?!

Thanks in advance

Don't attempt to remove the selector rod, just remove the seal (I melt them out usually, heat the seal and it'll come out easier) without marking the selector rod. You can only remove the selector rod once the gearbox is split but even then there's a shift lever bolted to the rod that is aligned at the factory and needs special tools to align.

That's what I thought just wanted a bit of confirmation! Thanks for the advice :)