Bypassing neutral saftey switch?

Are you driving an automatic or a standard?

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >

I had an old GMC motorhome that did this. The switch has developed a bit of internal resistance so that it can't carry the current that is required of it. You put a continuity tester on it and looks fine, a real head scratcher. You can make a jumper out of the same type of terminals that are on the switch and a piece of wire. A real sophisticated repair is to wire in a relay actuated by the switch. If the switch is not carrying as much current, it won't burn up the contacts as fast.

$200 for a neutral safety switch? Have you checked aftermarket suppliers?

Earle

It's an automatic. I just went out an cleaned the contacts again and it still would not fire up. I'd like to cut the wires and totally bypass the switch. I'm going to retire it as soon as I find a replacement vehicle.

Sam

Mike Roma> Are you driving an automatic or a standard?

The cheapest I found was $183 + tax at AutoZone. And then there's the hassle of unplugging it from the wiring harness on top of the bell housing. Don't really want to go down that path.

Sam

Earle Hort> I had an old GMC motorhome that did this. The switch has developed a bit of

Have you seen this link?

I am not sure which wire you need to cut though. Some neutral switches, like on a CJ or YJ just send a ground signal to the starter relay. Those ones can be bypassed at the fender just by putting a ground wire on at the relay.

If I went into the wiring diagram I could likely figure it out, but...

Here is a l>

That's what I did on the motor home. It worked great, but you will have to pay attention because you can start it in reverse or drive.

The problem with many of these designs is that they put too much current through the neutral safety switch, so it eventually burns out. I have seen other vehicles with a relay, where the switch lasts forever, but the relay burns out instead. ;^)

Earle

My trusty '77 Cherokee has been that way for the 20 years I've owned it. The tranny overhaul about 9 years ago didn't change a thing. It's no problem. It also means that you can use the starter (with the tranny in gear) to move the Jeep from a bad spot in case of a stall/no start (like off a railroad track). But, if you do, the starter will have to be repaired in very soon.

Dan

I found something in the Haynes manual (Cherokee 1984-2000, page 7B-5) that might be helpful. It is for the 4 speed auto trans. It appears that everything transmission related goes through that switch, not just neutral/park and back up. The wiring diagrams use numbers instead of these letters so it was no help.

X E F G H D C B A

The X shows the locking tab

P B-C R A-E N B-C D (blank)

3 A-G 1-2 A-H

If this problem happened to me, I would disconnect the connector and jumper the wires. But you won't have backup lights and you should stay in D so you don't confuse the computer. Or trace the B and C wires to an accessable location and strip the wires enough to install a jumper and switch to see if that will work. Just be sure to put some liquid electrical tape on the bare wires.

When my ignition switch melted in the middle of winter, I put a jumper on the solenoid and a heavy duty switch on the dash. I replaced the ignition switch when the weather got nicer, but I still use the dash mounted switch so I won't have the problem again. The starter sucks a lot of amps and it only takes a poor connection to quickly melt the connector, transmission switch or wires.

Merrill

Mike Roma> Have you seen this link?