Where is the neutral safety switch located?

VAWAGNON

MEMBER
2004 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE
V8
4WD
AUTOMATIC
21,488 MILES

I can't find the neutral safety switch. Pretty sure it needs replacing. Something the vehicle won't start, no click to nothing but sometimes it will start in neutral. I watched a video of a guy replacing his and just took off the plug and unbolted it and put new one on. I've been everywhere underneath it and can't find anything similar to what he had. The vehicle listed above is a limited model.

1 Reply

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
47,207 POSTS

It is now called a transmission range sensor.

TRANSMISSION RANGE SENSOR

DESCRIPTION
The Transmission Range Sensor (TRS) is part of the solenoid module, which is mounted to the top of the valve body inside the transmission.

The Transmission Range Sensor (TRS) has five switch contact pins that:
- Determine shift lever position
- Supply ground to the Starter Relay in Park and Neutral only.
- Supply +12 V to the backup lamps in Reverse only.

The TRS also has an integrated temperature sensor (thermistor) that communicates transmission temperature to the TCM and PCM.

OPERATION
The Transmission Range Sensor (TRS) communicates shift lever position to the TCM as a combination of open and closed switches. Each shift lever position has an assigned combination of switch states (open/closed) that the TCM receives from four sense circuits. The TCM interprets this information and determines the appropriate transmission gear position and shift schedule.

There are many possible combinations of open and closed switches (codes). Seven of these possible codes are related to gear position and five are recognized as "between gear" codes. This results in many codes which should never occur. These are called "invalid" codes. An invalid code will result in a DTC, and the TCM will then determine the shift lever position based on pressure switch data. This allows reasonably normal transmission operation with a TRS failure.

Check out the images (below). Let us know if you need anything else.