Tutorial on how to remove and replace the neutral safety switch on a 98 GM full size truck. These switches are on trucks as old as 1995.
Tutorial on how to remove and replace the neutral safety switch on a 98 GM full size truck. These switches are on trucks as old as 1995.
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There is a locking tab on the neutral safety switch with lots of conductive grease not glue.
the electrical connectors at the nss are glued in place. you need to heat them up to get them to release, a mini torch or just something that will apply heat will work. just don’t burn it.
BLAH BLAH BLAH GET TO THE POINT ALREADY!!!!!
Hey I have a civic lx 98 and I just have the problem that I replace a water pump and now my car won’t star and I don’t now what it is because is not the starter or the battery because it work fine please help cause a need it
Hey farren I have a question maybe anyone can help anyways i have a 1996 gmc serria and just did a engine and Trans swap due to my old motor blowing up. Same motor and Trans 4.3l with 4l60e Trans bought new neutral safety switch due to breaking the old one removing lol. But now when I put it in park my reverse lights come on and can’t figure out why? But also I noticed that I don’t have to push brake pedal to remove out of gear know either. Can anyone help me, is the switch bad ?
You have to eat that connector with a small torch it will loosen up the glue and you would not have cracked it taking them out I rebuild transmissions in a Shop I pull at least three 4l60e out every week
I know this is an old post but it maybe helpful to somebody. The problem you described sounds like there is a lot of junk in the pan, when you first start it up it gets sucked up into the filter, eventually blocking the flow of oil. Thus the reason why it moves for the first few minutes. When it’s shut down, the convertor drains back and the junk flushes into the bottom of the pan and the process repeats.
I have a 98 gmc jimmy. I think my switch is bad. The only way the vehichle starts is by shifting from low drive to drive while turning the ignition. It doesnt know that its in park.
did it work for you 2000 blazer?
I’m having trouble getting the new switch on my 97 s10 . does it have to be in neutral when installing
following this will this work on a 2000 Blazer with the V6 Vortec motor?
my starter is staying ingadged and starts in acseseries my nutrale switch is also cracked wouldnt start at first but tapped on nutrale switch and started but starter stays ingaged
nice video, I noticed you had issues with the top electrical connector. GM uses glue on this connector. heat it with a hot air gun and it will slip off,
I have been watching quite a few videos on the steering column trying to figure out what could have happened. I have an 88 chevy The wheel does not lock in when the key is pulled out which is not that big of a deal, but I always have to turn my wheel to find that sweet spot so the ignition will turn. When I was working on the oil line and was easier separating the column. Everything looks fine in the top end. Could this be the switch or the lock cylinder? I can’t find a video on those either.
Don’t have to disconnect the battery,you will call the dealer for the radio code.Will read lock and the radio won’t work.To get the plug ins out,use a heat gun to get the plugs out.They are glued in from the factory
sorry for the late response, hopefully you fixed your issue: the reverse lights are controlled be the NSS, the turn signals are a different switch. I’ve never done this on a manual truck, so would love to hear any insights if it differs but to my understanding the depression of the clutch is mostly what the NSS is making up for in the automatic trans. most important thing is disconnect your battery, don’t run the risk of hurting yourself or creating more work by damaging other electronics
sounds like it could be one of many problems, my suggestions will be a shot in the dark but i suggest a mechanic. could be an issue with the drive train, maybe transmission is not engaging, could be a security lockout, could be a general computer failure, best case scenario… your shifter cable snapped and needs to be replaced, so check its connection on the NSS – you’ll know if you can move the lever by hand from below while the column shifter remains in park. Does the engine run well?
I have a 01 tahoe that is having trans problems…it will not move in 2 or 4 wh drive…it doesnt not move forward or reverse at all…the only time it moves it when you start it but for only about a minute then you have to shut the vehicle off and wait a few minutes then turn it on again…do you think its the neutral safety switch? I have no idea and anything will be helpful.
oh and I forgot to ask, if my signals still work, but my reverse lights do not, is this NSS likely the problem or not?
Does this same procedure work for a manual trans truck? What would you say is the most important thing to be careful of while doing this job (aside from not pulling the wires from the harness)?
the likely reason the electrical plugs were difficult to remove is because there was
some factory clear colored adhesive on
the electrical plugs.
makes plug removal VERY difficult.
in your case, it’s what likely caused your
switch to break.
not sure why that adhesive was on there,
but I’ve come across several with it on late model GM trucks.
perhaps it’s to keep the colored sealing rings in place. if so, looks like they used too much
I use something like carb cleaner to clean the
glue
Thanks, cant see a motherfucking thing….
cool thanks:) my friend tommy story aka Rezmanstaria and Stonewall567 his dad oldest son robert story need this cool info on a for 1996 pick up truck f150 there working on the truck right now:)
well I found out that I installed everything correctly. I was just fortunate enough that my cable was old and broke just from the little bit of movement it had. So after replacing the shift cable it works just fine and I have backups. It should also be noted the plugs for this switch is glued in which is what makes them so tough to remove. I had to crack the plastic around the plug to get mine free as well.
ahhh yeah found out that the little bit of messing around cause the cable to stretch and break I can’t shift any higher than D3 and can’t shift back down at all. So I’m fixing the cable this friday. I guess it was a stroke of luck that my cable snapped for me lol. But at least I have backup lights now lol.
the alignment issue could be from installing the arm that connects to the NSS backwards. You should be able to rotate the arm all the way forward and push the shifter into park and everything will align. As far as battery, by not disconnecting you run several risks, worst being personal injury by electric current or damaging other electronic components or connections by shorting your wires.
the alignment issue could be from installing the arm that connects to the NSS backwards. You should be able to rotate the arm all the way forward and push the shifter into park and everything will align. As far as battery, by not disconnecting you run several risks, worst being personal injury by electric current or damaging other electronic components or connections by shorting your wires.
also what happens if you don’t disconnect the battery?
I am undergoing this replacement and got a couple questions. Is the metal thing on the front of the NSS indicating neutral or park? I got back lights but I didn’t align the shifter cable right and now I can’t get into P or R any help with the alignment of this thing in conjunction with the shifter cable since with the cable disconnected I can’t feel where neutral is any help is appreciated.
could be a bad replacement NSS or the wires were not pushed in securely. i’m actually shocked that your truck is running with the bad switch installed, it’s actually not supposed to start without a verified signal from the NSS. The switch tells the dash what gear to light up, that’s why alignment is key, once you have signal going to your dash, you’d be able to figure out if it is misaligned. If I had to guess, you ended up with a bad replacement switch or you need to recheck your wires.
@FoxInSoxx28
Hi again – I noticed yesterday the tailgate trunk latch/release button no longer works. As a safety feature, it does not pop the trunk unless the truck is off and/or in park, so I’m guessing this means I DID install the NSS incorrectly, but I’m not sure what I did wrong. As I mentioned previously, the indicator lights under the PRND are out after NSS replacement. Is it possible the NSS wasn’t “all the way” in neutral when I installed it or the plugs not re-inserted all the way?
@tde5 sound like a wiring issue and pinpointing exactly where it’s coming from could take some more testing or a mechanic. I’m 99% sure that the signal going to your column indicators comes from the NSS, but it could just be turning onto one of those old trucks with old quirks. If worse comes to worse, One suggestion is to wire a toggle switch in your cab directly to your reverse lights and not worry about the NSS control at all.
Thanks again for the tips. I did try to check the wires but didn’t encounter any problems, so I replaced the NSS. Still no back up lights, however now I don’t have the indicator PRND321 lights on my dash to indicate what gear I’m in?? What did I do to screw that up? did check the fuses too. Everything else is as it was before the NSS replacement. Car shifts as it should, as well. Thanks.
hey, thanks! I will check it out as soon as it isn’t pouring here. Hopefully whatever it is is a simple fix.
before you do that, trace the lt. green wire from the NSS to the tail lights, could also be where the wire splits to hit both L and R lights has disconnected. Then all you need is a coupler and some electrical tape 🙂 good luck.
could be the NSS in the 98 models there is a lt green wire that runs from the NSS to the reverse lamps, not sure what color wire is going into the switch is off the top of my head, but a haynes manual or exterior electrical chart will solve that. I suggest starting there: apply the parking brake, drop it in reverse and check to see if you are getting signal with the incoming wire with a multimeter, if yes and no signal is coming out the NSS it’s a pretty good bet.
Hey, your video popped up in my google search results for NSS info. The reverse / backup lights on my 99 Suburban do not light up at all. No problems with any other lights or directionals, checked the fuses, and replaced the bulbs – still won’t work. Shifting into reverse and backing up is fine as well, just the bulbs. Someone suggested it may be a bad NSS, but I don’t have any issues with switching any gears or starting up. Does this sound like it could be related to a bad NSS?
thank you for the tips it was the NSSwitch that was giving me the problem..I did forgot to disconnect the battery when installing the nnswitch. It would not start so i disconnected the battery and after 10 mins, I connected the battery and turn the key forward and left it turned for 5 mins and it reprogram itself and started right up.. Thank you again..
sorry in my last statement, i said put in drive… i meant put in park or neutral.
could be, or just could be a bad connection in the electrical in general. Start by getting a multimeter and a wiring digram and test your connections. the diagram will give you the colors of wires you should be looking for. jack the car up, apply the parking break, put it in drive… if you have a no crank issue, use the multimeter to check that you are getting signal from the wire that runs to your starter relay switch. other problems could be your starter switch or keylock.
my 2002 chevy silverado will start fine and after running the truck for an hour or so, i’ll turn off the truck and it won’t crank no more till 15 or 20 mins later..Sometimes when i move the shift to 3 gear and back up to park and hold it, it will crank..could this be the nsswitch also? Appreciate any tips..thk you..
still trying to figure out what’s causing my problem. The truck will not crank at all but if i wait a day or two after running it, it cranks fine. I was told by several mechanics that it could be one of several problems and received a giant list of possible solutions… If your NSS is bad, your starter will not receive a signal from the relay, so there will be no crank at all in neutral or park. It is a safety feature to make sure you don’t start your car in gear.
Was this truck hard to start with the bad switch?