Well, its time to get the XJ inspected here in VA and sadly my "friendly" inspection friend is no longer employed at the local shop, so I guess I need to get some reverse lights.
When I got the Jeep it would not start in park without alot of prayers and moving of the gear shift to find that "sweet spot". I came to the and other forums and have read up on the NSS removal and cleaning. Well back in March I gave it a good 4 hour attempt and could not for the life of me get the NSS off...it would come out maybe a inch and then felt like it got stuck on something. Not wanting to destroy the NSS after 4 hours I gave up. On the positive my fiddling with it fixed the starting issue...it starts right away now no issues. On the negative side I have no reverse lights. Well inspection is due now and like I said my buddy no longer works there (ironicly for giving "friendly/no hassle" inspections) so I need to get this fixed.
So questions for those of you that have done this...I am assuming (tell me if I am wrong) that this issue of it being stuck is that rust has gotten on the shaft. Am I going to cause any trasmission issues by spraying PB Blaster into the slot...meaning I was going to loosen it again, hit it with a good soaking of PB, put back together, drive it to/from work, then come back home and see if PB and some tranny heat helps...does the shaft lead into the transmission fluid and will PB hurt? I mean a good good good dose of PB. Also depeding on the articles I have read some say leave the transmission in park when you try to pull off NSS, some say Neutral....any idea if one is better than the other?
Thanks for any help...this forum is like a XJ Church Bible.

 

I havent taken off a NSS while the tranny is on the car so I dont know how difficult it is to fit any tools but I used a screwdriver to pry it off. It sounds like you got it to move a little bit and then use a big screwdriver parallel with the ground along the bottom side of it and pull outward. And there is a seal around that shaft so the PB blaster won't hurt anything. As far as N or P it shouldnt matter because the rod moves freely inside the NSS. So whether you have the car in P or N it shouldnt make a difference all that does is spin the shaft inside a few degress. Hope this helps

 

Thanks bud...I tried to screw driver trick...didnt work. When I tackle it again this weekend I am going to try the Lowes wood shim trick I have read about and hope that works. Bascially I dont want to spend $$$ for a new NSS if I dont have too.

 

Good luck with that. I wasn't trying to be rude, just overly specific instead of not enough detail.