Clean Your Neutral Safety Switch A442F (1 Viewer)

[skkppy]

Hi guys, I thought I would post a few pictures of my NSS cleaning that I did.

Symptoms I was having before doing this:
No reverse lights on both the dash and out back.
Slipping in hard reverse.
Long time for the trans to go into reverse.
Occasional no start in park.

All of these problems are now gone 100%

The photos you see are actually from my backup sensor that i bulled off my old blown transmission. The primary sensor I am now using I never took off go the car. I only loosened it in place. My advice is to just do this under the car so you don't have to bother with unplugging the thing. The plug on the A442F is way up by the top of the bell housing. If you have a 95+ I thing the plug is on the actual switch but I am not familiar. I would not be surprised if it cleans the same way. 2x 12MM bolts and one 22MM nut keep the sensor on the vehicle. The 22MM nut has a retaining washer with ears that need to be flattened to loosen the nut. The sense can actually be adjusted by just loosening the 12MM bolts but I will say this: if your shift linkage is adjusted properly than you should not really have to "adjust" the angle of the switch. It should be for the most part centered. I cleaned with brake clean and a pick to get all of the old goo out of it. I polished with 400 grit, and relubed with white lithium.

Pictures:

 

[skkppy]

 

[gummycarbs]

I did this under my 94. It's a pretty easy job, but there are tiny black springs under the contacts that are extremely easy to lose. If I were doing it again, I think I'd put down a large piece of cardboard for contrast and maybe an old towel to reduce the chance of them bouncing away if they pop out.

 

[gorbilax]

How did you guys manage to get that little metal round thing that sits in the other end of the breather tube(?) out of the plastic wire wrap surrounding the wire harness? Mine is stuck in there and I can't get it out to reattach it to the tube for the life of me. There doesn't seem to be enough clearance for it to come out of the tube because of the wires being in the way.

What is that thing, anyway? Is it necessary?

 

[gorbilax]

Scratch that - I eventually managed to wiggle it loose with some very small needle nose. Once I reassembled everything, I can now start the car in neutral, but not in park... so I guess my issue is half-solved? Do you happen to know which of the two copper wipers is the one that affects the starting circuit?

 

[Tedward]

Have you adjusted it by clocking the switch?
Move it one way or the other then try to start it.

 

[gorbilax]

That did it! Moved it the other direction and cranked the bolts back down, and now it starts right up. Awesome. No more starting the cruiser with a jumper wire to the starter solenoid. Thanks!

 

[Mark Benedicto]

i have a 94 and my backup lights don't work as well and when i backup it slips out of gear. How hard is it to unplug the wires reattach after cleaning the neutral safety switch? it looks like they are located somewhere up the transmission.

 

[skhochay]

View attachment 1568043

what type of a saur cream you use to lubricate it

 

[Red Merle]

what type of a saur cream you use to lubricate it

Only the finest Bavarian, I'm told.

 

[Bardiya]

Thanks for the writeup! I just finished doing this on my 100 series with the A442F and 1FZ.

 

[Dan Armino]

This write-up saved me a bunch of time, I have a couple of tips to add.
1. Clean and mark the NSS location with a razor blade before removing it ( make a mark on the side of the case) you won't have to adjust it when you reinstall it.
2 . You don't need to sand down the contacts, as you can see in your pictures only the top contact has grooves and they are offset, just flip the top contact over and you have new untouched contact material. You also don't want the contact to be sanded flat, if you look closely they are curved so they can slide smoothly on the uneven contact surface of the NSS. Thanks again!

 

[simple]

bumping this up as the other thread about NSS issues causing dash light issues has me thinking I need to do this.

 

[xetura]

bumping this up as the other thread about NSS issues causing dash light issues has me thinking I need to do this.

Yeah, that's my fault. I'm going through all the lights in the dash and the only ones that are giving me issues is this and the key switch light. Of course fixing them isn't as simple as replacing a bulb.

 

[joshrabon]

I'm about to try this tomorrow. As of right now, I have no reverse lights on both sides, hard shift from park to reverse or drive to reverse, and I'm not sure about the R light on the dash. I want to say its working.... Does that mean my diagnosis is off?

 

[simple]

I'm about to try this tomorrow. As of right now, I have no reverse lights on both sides, hard shift from park to reverse or drive to reverse, and I'm not sure about the R light on the dash. I want to say its working.... Does that mean my diagnosis is off?

Just a heads up. I installed a brand new NSS...and it did nothing for my symptoms. I still don't have reverse and my shift to reverse from park is still harsh.

When I installed the new NSS wire harness I had corrosion in the connection because the PHH leaks right onto that connection which turns the wires a nice shade of green.

Open that connection first before you invest in a NSS. That may be your problem.

 

[Red703]

Just a heads up. I installed a brand new NSS...and it did nothing for my symptoms. I still don't have reverse and my shift to reverse from park is still harsh.

When I installed the new NSS wire harness I had corrosion in the connection because the PHH leaks right onto that connection which turns the wires a nice shade of green.

Open that connection first before you invest in a NSS. That may be your problem.

Not sure this would help but I didn't have turn signals at a short time, but I've found the rear wire harness at the rear from an old tow light harness corroded. Went under the rig and traced the wire from the tow harness and across to the drivers side was open. Had to remove the wire shield and removed the taps from the tow module and repaired the wires and while I was in there I did the same for the other wires that connected to the module.

 

[joshrabon]

Yeah I’m still having some trouble finding it the connection for the NSS. I took the NSS off today without disconnecting and cleaned it out, but after I lost all gear lights on the dash and no reverse lights… truck still starts in park and seems to drive ok. I’d like to take it off and troubleshoot before buying a replacement.

Does anyone have picture of the connectors and their location?

 

[Ajjensen]

Yeah I’m still having some trouble finding it the connection for the NSS. I took the NSS off today without disconnecting and cleaned it out, but after I lost all gear lights on the dash and no reverse lights… truck still starts in park and seems to drive ok. I’d like to take it off and troubleshoot before buying a replacement.

Does anyone have picture of the connectors and their location?

Josh, did you ever get this working? I am working on mine this weekend and have the same issues. Truck starts and drives fine, just no PRNDL lights and no reverse lights on the back of the truck. I pulled the NSS away from the transmission and cleaned it, put it back together and same issues.

Is there a trick getting the connectors undone?! They look like they go all the way on top of the bell housing. Looks like a real PITA while laying underneath it.

 

[joshrabon]

Josh, did you ever get this working? I am working on mine this weekend and have the same issues. Truck starts and drives fine, just no PRNDL lights and no reverse lights on the back of the truck. I pulled the NSS away from the transmission and cleaned it, put it back together and same issues.

Is there a trick getting the connectors undone?! They look like they go all the way on top of the bell housing. Looks like a real PITA while laying underneath it.

Yeah man, ended up pulling the whole NSS out and blowing out the inside and connector with contact cleaner. Also hit the contacts inside with a high grit sand paper just to make sure they had good connection. Totally fixed my problem. It even made my D light work again! It was much easier pulling the whole thing than trying to do it under the truck. I also swapped out the relay in the kick panel and the wiring harness for the tail lights. I’m not sure what the fix was, but the combo took care of my problem!