Freely rolls in park, won't start in neutral

2000 XJ 2WD, AW4 trans, 4.0L, 300k miles

Problem 1: My Jeep rolls freely after putting it in park, even on very nearly level ground, more than a foot. I would guess it will keep rolling until it runs into something :spin1: I have to set the e-brake to keep it in place. (I know, I should do this anyway but who really does)

Problem 2: only starts in Park, not neutral.

Both problems both started at the same time, as far as I can tell, and both without warning or clues that something may be wrong.

So there are 3 possible things I've found related to these problems, but I don't know how they're all related:
-shift cable out of adjustment
-park pawl is sheared off or severly worn down
-Neutral safety switch is faulty

I followed the FSM directions to adjust the cable, and it didn't seem to change anything. I think it's engaging in Park just fine, the linkage goes all the way back.

So could a faulty NSS cause both problems? Or is there some other internal transmission problem that could lead to both, at the same time?

TIA,
Ben

You have a problem with the "parking pawl" inside the transmission in addition to the NSS.

Yeah, RCP Phx, I'm hoping that's not the case because they are both costly to fix, but you're probably right.

Any reason they would both fail at the same time, and without warning?

Shifter linkage out of adjustment

Well, I finally dropped the pan and had a look. Turns out there was a small chunk of metal wedged in between the parking pawl and the transmission housing wall. I popped that out and it works fine now. Don't know what broke but it wasn't the pawl.
As for the NSS, I followed the YouTube video by BleepinJeep to repair my existing one.

All good!