Neutral Safety Switch- Is this inside or outside the transmission (Sebring 2007 41TE)
#1
06-05-2020 | 10:15 AM
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Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2020
Posts: 5
Neutral Safety Switch- Is this inside or outside the transmission (Sebring 2007 41TE)
Happy Friday fellow Sebring owners, hoping a fellow owner of a 2017 V6 2.7L can help share his/ her experience. Mine has been very well kept 1 previous owner low mileage 75K and she's been great but all of a sudden a plethora of issues have been cropping up the past 6 months 
Many appreciation in advance!!!
Dash Showing Reverse when Shifter in Park
Issue
Findings
Trunk does not open
Issue: When pressing the dash button/ FOB key, the trunk does not open (the electrical mechanism opening/ popping the trunk no longer makes any sound)
Steps Taken
Many appreciation in advance!!!
Dash Showing Reverse when Shifter in Park
Issue
- Because dash shows Reverse even though the shifter is in Park, I can only start the car in Neutral by using the pink shifter override (right side of shifter)
- Initially, shaking the shifter hard from side to side would get the dashboard to change from "Reverse" to “Park”, allowing me to start the engine. However this hack no longer works and I have to use the pink shifter override (right side of shifter)
- Even using the override to drive the car, changing gears on the shifter starts to feel difficult and not smooth anymore
- Initially thought it was a
. But opening up the center console and checking the shifter, the recall spring installed still looks good and not broken off.
- Shifter assembly- shifter assembly is good as I am able to able to shift to all gears on the assembly smoothly after removing the shifter cable
Findings
- I think this requires a neutral safety switch replacement but I cannot figure out if this is inside or outside the transmission. I've confirmed with dealership, the range sensor for my 41TES transmission is 4659676ac looks like this. As it doesn't have the hole to shift it from gear to gear, does anyone have a diagram to confirm if this is mounted outside the transmission and not inside? Any guides on helping to changing the neutral safety switch/ range sensor/ transmission position sensor is welcome!
- Should I also be changing out the shifter cable due to the resistance in shifting? I don't think the range sensor replacement will solve this p
Trunk does not open
Issue: When pressing the dash button/ FOB key, the trunk does not open (the electrical mechanism opening/ popping the trunk no longer makes any sound)
Steps Taken
- Checked the electrical cables running to the trunk opening mechanism- Good, no cuts no rips
- Fuse Box- fuse 14 which powers the trunk- Works; although Fuse 14 also powers the windows, only the trunk open mechanism is not working; all other electronics powered by 14 is not affected
- I changed the fuse out for good measure and stumbled upon an VERY ODD phenomenon- after removing and reattaching back Fuse 14, the trunk dash button and FOB key start to work and the trunk opens. However as soon as I wind down the electric windows, the trunk electric opening no longer works. Again, removing and reattaching fuse 14 always makes the trunk work back again but I can't imagine having to pop the hood, remove and reinsert Fuse 14 just to open the trunk
#2
07-16-2020 | 09:10 PM
Thread Starter
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Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2020
Posts: 5
Hi fellow Sebring owners I wanted to share an update. I took it to two transmission shops who confirmed that it is indeed a neutral safety switch replacement issue.
Although the neutral safety switch is indeed mounted outside on the 41TE transmission, it is still necessary to drop the valve body to access the NSS. Bought the Standard Motor Products NS219 part for $21 from Amazon and sucked up and paid $300 for 2.5 hours of labor from a Chrysler transmission expert. While he was at it, I had him drain the transmission fluid, install a new transmission Mopar OEM filter 4864505AB ($23) and add back 7 quarts of Supertech ATF Plus 4 from Walmart ($34).
He showed me the huge amount of rust buildup from the last 7 years of Massachusetts salt around the NSS which caused the switch to be seized/ frozen, also creating a lot of the aforementioned resistance/ difficulty in shifting. With the new NSS switch installed, shifting was now as smooth as a brand new car.
Also referenced in my OP is the mystery of my trunk no longer opening (FOB or dash button) despite the fuse 14 working well and the windows, which also share the same fuse, working well. It turns out that prior to the NSS fix, because my car's onboard computer not recognizing the car as being in park even though the shifter was in park it disabled the opening of the trunk. After replacing the NSS, the car's onboard computer now recognizes the car being in "Park", miraculously restoring the ability of opening of the trunk (FOB or dash button).
So long story, if your Sebring experiences difficulty shifting and one day leading to one day your dashboard no longer shows that the car is in Park (requiring you to use the pink override shifter lever to start in Neutral) and you suddenly lose the ability to pop your trunk even though Fuse 14 is fine and your power windows still work, then it is most definitely a NSS replacement issue.
Although the neutral safety switch is indeed mounted outside on the 41TE transmission, it is still necessary to drop the valve body to access the NSS. Bought the Standard Motor Products NS219 part for $21 from Amazon and sucked up and paid $300 for 2.5 hours of labor from a Chrysler transmission expert. While he was at it, I had him drain the transmission fluid, install a new transmission Mopar OEM filter 4864505AB ($23) and add back 7 quarts of Supertech ATF Plus 4 from Walmart ($34).
He showed me the huge amount of rust buildup from the last 7 years of Massachusetts salt around the NSS which caused the switch to be seized/ frozen, also creating a lot of the aforementioned resistance/ difficulty in shifting. With the new NSS switch installed, shifting was now as smooth as a brand new car.
Also referenced in my OP is the mystery of my trunk no longer opening (FOB or dash button) despite the fuse 14 working well and the windows, which also share the same fuse, working well. It turns out that prior to the NSS fix, because my car's onboard computer not recognizing the car as being in park even though the shifter was in park it disabled the opening of the trunk. After replacing the NSS, the car's onboard computer now recognizes the car being in "Park", miraculously restoring the ability of opening of the trunk (FOB or dash button).
So long story, if your Sebring experiences difficulty shifting and one day leading to one day your dashboard no longer shows that the car is in Park (requiring you to use the pink override shifter lever to start in Neutral) and you suddenly lose the ability to pop your trunk even though Fuse 14 is fine and your power windows still work, then it is most definitely a NSS replacement issue.
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