96 FZJ80 starts in any gear - park/neutral safety switch

[mad_african]

Just purchased 96 FZJ80 with check engine light on. Code points to Park Nuetral safety switch malfunction. Then I mistakenly turned the ignition key while in reverse and it cranked up - Of coarse this would be bery desireable if I was going to be wheeling this truck, but I need it as a daily driver. After crawling underneath I noticed that there is a block connector joining the 2 large wires together on the park/nuetral safety swich it's self... HUH??? I'm guessing my first try should be to remove the THING connecting the 2 large wires, then clear the code and hope that resolved my issue... Well I guess I may have just answered my own question , but if I do and something starts acting up, then I may have found a fix for something else.... If anyone knows any more about this I'd like to hear your opinion(s) please.

Update... After doing more searching I happened to find something to do with the starter and park/neutral switch - I happen to not have a working cruise control either so that search gave me more of a clue. ....

The wires have been connected to by-pass the park/neutral switch that is bad - thus causing my cruise control not to work any more because it thinks the transmission is still in park or neutral.... So removing the connector before I get a new park/neutral switch will disable the vehicle and it will no longer start... IH8MUD Forums - View Single Post - Intermittant starter Thank you guys for having this information out there - - Newbie learns how valuable the SEARCH function is...

Thanks
Jack

 

[96r50]

Before buying a new NSS (park/neutral switch) I would replace the plastic connector body and the two wires that were attached with the crimp-on splice. It's possible that your PPO was having the same no start issue Romer/TOY350/myself were having. The NSS is spendy (>$200 last time I checked) whereas the connector and two repair terminals are only about $20. Try the little things first before pulling out the chequebook!

 

[96r50]

See this thread for info on the no-start, and this one for the part numbers.

NSS connector: 90980-11332
2 large splices: 82998-12480

 

[mad_african]

See this thread for info on the no-start, and this one for the part numbers.

Awesome, Thanks Adam. I'll definately do that first - the terminals to those wires may be corroded and not making a good connection. I'll keep you posted with my results. Thanks for the part numbers too.

Regards
Jack

 

[mad_african]

Problem Solved with 2 terminal repair ends (splices) and a new connector plug - Total $24 - Truck starts in Park and Neutral only now and no CEL and the Cruise Control works well.

I spliced the 2 connector wires onto the 2 larger wires and soldered, shrink wrapped and taped them together. The fun part was getting all the smaller wires out of the old plug in tact so that I could snap them into the new connector plug... I ended up just breaking the housing of the old plug little by little one wire at a time. The little rubber weatherproof caps the wires pass through also stayed in tact but as I inserted each one I placed a little clear silicone on each so as to guarantee a watertight seal on each wire.

WHEW !! Glad it's over and I didn't have to buy that expensive NSS switch. Thanks again for all the advice and information previously posted on this forum.

Regards
Jack

 

[96r50]

Good job! And thanks for coming back to post the final result.

 

[Land Speeder]

this is awesome news! driving it over thursday night?

 

[solidfrontaxle]

So is there a mod we can do that will allow it to start in any gear, and still have the cruise control work? Maybe a switch that disables the safety switch temporarily?

 

[Land Speeder]

So figure out any reason this mod was done? There has to be a reason, right?

 

[mad_african]

So figure out any reason this mod was done? There has to be a reason, right?

The reason why they stuck a block on the wires that connect to the starter system at the NSS was because one of the spade connectors in the connector was corroded and broken in half - to allow the circuit to make contact they tied them together, but then all bets were off as to it only starting in Park or Nuetral. I'm guessing they were quoted too much to fix the starting problemand took it to a shade tree mechanic instead... I dunno, but I got it fixed - Phew... stress relieved!!!!!!

Regards
Jack

 

[mad_african]

So is there a mod we can do that will allow it to start in any gear, and still have the cruise control work? Maybe a switch that disables the safety switch temporarily?

I'm pretty sure you could stick a switch in between those 2 wires for the times that you would need to start the engine in gear - but it will definately prevent you from setting your cruise control. Having the 2 wires connected will not burn up the NSS nor your cruise control, it will just continuously tell the CC that you are in Park or Neutral and thus you cannot set it.... When I got mine those 2 wires had apparently been connected together for quite some time and both circuits NSS and CC were still in great shape after I fixed the problem.

Regards
Jack