neutral switch removal

Screw it Im the only person who drives my xj, so I need to know how hard it would be to remove the neutral switch. Not put a new one on but remove it for good. The only kind of info I can find using the search option was that its an time consuming task. Any feedback would be great.

BTT

I would also like to learn more about this. My 99 XJ's NSS has given me nothing but grief.

Check out the jeepin.com web site. They have whole write up on how to repair the NSS. I follwed their instructions and it only took me about an hour start to finish. Now everything works great. I really like having my back-up lights again.

I had seen that article. However, has anyone simply removed the NSS completely?

Karlm said:

Check out the jeepin.com web site. They have whole write up on how to repair the NSS.

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Well just follow the article about taking it out to clean/ and remove it. There is some other stuff to deal with under the console but that is it. I'm not a big fan of it myself. If its not locked up, no start. kind of pisses you off sometimes. Juice

I don't think you can eliminate it on an auto. The position of the contacts on the inside tell the computer which position the shifter is in. Just follow the article and clean it up.

Dan

Well most years never had them to begin with. Mine never came with one. I had a recall on it years ago and finally had it done. Wish I didn't. So if it never came with one, it can be removed. Mine is an 88 by the the way.I this 87-94? Didn't come with them. I know for sure 87-90 didn't have them. Juice

juicexj24 said:

Well most years never had them to begin with. Mine never came with one. I had a recall on it years ago and finally had it done. Wish I didn't. So if it never came with one, it can be removed. Mine is an 88 by the the way.I this 87-94? Didn't come with them. I know for sure 87-90 didn't have them. Juice

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We're talking about two different things here. You are referring to the brake pedal interlock that was added to keep addled folks from blasting through fruitstands and claiming the brakes don't work, by preventing shifts out of N or P unless the brake is on. As you note, this feature was not present on early AW4's, and is not necessary. My 87 never had the recall.

However, all AW-4's have a "neutral safety switch," which is mounted on the transmission itself. This switch, in addition to preventing the starter from engaging in gear, also controls the backup lights, and tells the TCU what gear has been selected. It's very expensive to replace, rather fragile and easy to break when removing, but not hard to clean and restore once you have it out.

The NSS is what I am talking about. Mine often flakes out and prevents the starter from engaging even when the XJ is not running. Generally playing with the shifter, switching between park and neutral for a while will 'solve' the problem. However, I would rather find a way to get rid of the @&#%! thing.

Matthew Currie said:

We're talking about two different things here. You are referring to the brake pedal interlock that was added to keep addled folks from blasting through fruitstands and claiming the brakes don't work, by preventing shifts out of N or P unless the brake is on. As you note, this feature was not present on early AW4's, and is not necessary. My 87 never had the recall.

However, all AW-4's have a "neutral safety switch," which is mounted on the transmission itself. This switch, in addition to preventing the starter from engaging in gear, also controls the backup lights, and tells the TCU what gear has been selected. It's very expensive to replace, rather fragile and easy to break when removing, but not hard to clean and restore once you have it out.

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well I just went to the store, and the samething happened to me. Had to move the shifter around to get it into gear again. I hate the f***ing thing. So shift interlock or NSS. whatever they both do. They suck. So pull it out. I'm going to get mine out this weekend. That is the second time in two weeks. and about the 6th time since June when the dealer put it in. Juice

If your NSS started acting-up after a dealer worked the recall for the shift interlock -- the NSS & shifter relationship is (most likely) just out of adjustment --

I don't have a FSM or whatever with me right here, but I'll wager that someone here has one or has adjusted one of them things...

Brake pedal interlock can go, just rip the thing out. The NSS has to stay. There is a reason that that thing costs about $300.00. If you don't have one your rig becomes a giant paper weight. It won't start and the ECM won't know what gear has been selected. I had the same problem with mine, cleaned it and it works great.