Greetings Fellas,
I have a 1991 Pickup with a 4 speed automatic transmission, steering column shift. It started giving me trouble by not starting in park, only in neutral. Now it wont start at all and only hear a click when turning the key. It has a new battery. I looked at the schematics in my Chilton manual and took a look at the neutral safety switch which I found to have deteriorated wire coatings where the harness comes out of the switch. I removed the switch to see what I could do with it, but the back side is swollen and bulged out. I have researched the switch and come up with part number 84540-22181. The problem that I'm having is that there seems to be nothing of that part number available in stock anywhere. The one that I removed has a harness hard wired to the switch that extends out a couple feet and is split into two connectors. Most of what I'm finding online is the switch with no wires, only a connector for a harness to plug into. Does anyone happen to know where I may be able to find a switch with the harness or even a switch and connector pig tail that I would be able to splice in? I have even thought of bypassing the switch all together if anyone would be kind enough to give me some guidance on that. My schematic in the Chilton manual is quite vague so I'm not sure which wires I should splice together. I have also searched salvage yards within about 3 hours of me looking for something that I could pull a part from but have had no luck there either. Thanks for taking a look and I appreciate any input that anyone may have in this matter.

 

Hey, I wanna make sure we’re thinking about the same transmission. Ik Toyota changed them around 91,92 or so. If you don’t know exactly which one check the sticker in the drivers door. Or take a pic and send it here.

Either way I’m pretty sure we’re looking at an a43d here. Try looking for parts just by searching name of transmission and the part. I’ve had better luck like that with my 89 runner and it’s auto. It’s a large family of transmissions so it’s shared between manufacturers and many models over many years. There will be differences just make sure you’re buying the switch with the plug exactly like yours.


Edit: saw one attached to this part number. (84540-2414) It doesn’t come up with much but it’s a start.

 

 

I also found some paperwork from when I had the transmission rebuilt in 2017. They listed the transmission as being an A40DE. I’m currently trying to find the neutral safety switch part number for that model but am only finding the one that has a connector on it to plug into. Nothing with the harness and 2 round connectors.

 

Is there any chance those were spliced in with some random plugs that shop had on hand? May be worth giving them a call since they worked on it and seeing if they can source one. Might be a sort of off the books kind of part.

 

Also the original owner of the truck was an old auto mechanic that used to tow it behind his RV. He passed away quite a few years back and I’m not certain this is the original transmission that came with the truck.

 

The harness looks all original, no splicing anywhere.

 

Is there any clear way to open the old one and start reverse engineering it? If you found a replacement switch theoretically with the same number of wires coming out you might be able to use it.

 

I did open the switch but the wiper arm inside is broken and one of the wiper contact pieces fell out and will not stay in place. I’m planning to pass by that transmission shop where I had it rebuilt to see if we can scratch up any more information on it. I certainly appreciate your time and input! If you happen to stumble across anything else, please let me know!