Ok, here's my (costly) mistake. Posted for anyone else inexperienced with changing the NSS .

I recently noticed my reverse lights were not working. Still started in park and neutral only no probs. Checked fuses and bulbs all ok. Read a few useful posts on this forum and decided to give the Neutral safety switch a clean up.

Managed the PITA cable ties fairly quickly by unclipping both the NSS connector from the harness in the engine bay along with the other transmission wiring it was cable tied to. This meant I could drag both wires below the xj and snip them from below. Great so far.

undid the mounting bolt on NSS, bent back the clips on the washer and loosened the larger adjustment. The switch was not budging so soaked in pb blaster and scraped rust and crud from spindle that goes into trans. It levered out half and inch and stopped. Got a big screwdriver on it and moved a bit more then stopped.

my great idea was to stick the screwdriver behind the large adjustment nut to get the best leverage. It worked really well and just before the NSS popped off when, crack, two of the threaded nibs around the spindle shattered. The nut will not go on without them! Had no idea the threads were soft aluminium.



so I need a new NSS. Why are they so pricey?

the kicker was looking inside it looks like my problem would have been solved with a good clean. Lots of crud and looks like engine oil inside.

 

Yeah, those tabs are not the strongest and the whole assembly is really exposed to the elements down there.

I tried taking mine off last winter, but broke 1 of those tabs and gave up before I broke another. Gonna tackle it again soon, but I am sure I will need a new one anyway.

It could have been worse, you could have broken the shaft.

 

All sensors cost a bit. Some say you can get away with a $30 nss off eBay but I'm not sure about that.

 

Bought a new one before trying to remove mine for that very reason. In case i broke the old one. No issues, so now i have a spare. I think i got it from Quadratec. Mightve been Omix-Ada.

 

That sucks.

The NSS on my transmission is MUCH more durable. Mine is a plunger switch that "feels" a purple plastic cam on the rooster comb.

 

Thanks and yes it could have been worse.

I did see that $30 one on eBay. Not sure how it can be 75% cheaper than the rest other than being sub standard. This is not my daily driver so might be worth a go and ill let you know how it goes.

 

For anyone else who comes across this... the best way to get the NSS off is to go to Home Depot or Lowes, and get a thing of wood shims (for leveling doors or windows). Then slowly tap one, two, three, whatever on each side until it pops loose. This spreads out the pressure across more of the NSS.

Not the easiest, but it was the only way I felt comfortable getting mine off.

BTW, they can sell it for $30 because it's cheap China crap. Might work, might not. XJ's like OEM sensors.

 

I also had this problem when taking off the original. Bought a cheap ebay $35 one and used its housing and wires but with the cleaned up springs and connections from the original NSS. All has been working fine for a couple of years.

 

^^^ Good idea.
Did you happen compare the two?