Well, after owning a 960 for about a year, my parents (mom) decided that a new PNP switch was in order since the trans light would flash in damp or cold weather (Minnesota). After reading the FAQ and many posts on this digest my father and I decided to obtain a new switch and replace the old one. We have learned many valuable lessons, and I will pass on what we have discovered.

1) If you live in the "salt belt", FORGET cleaning the switch. It will most likely break into a million pieces when you remove it. This also applies if you have a higher mileage or older car because the plastic sub-strait gets brittle. Basically, DO NOT attempt to remove the old switch unless you have a new one, or are SURE you can get it before you will need the car operational.

2) DO NOT purchase an aftermarket (Scan Tech) switch. Spend the extra $10-$10 and get an OE one.... trust me.

3) If you do not have GOOD jack-stands (not ramps) DO NOT even think about this.

4) There are a few "extra" steps in the FAQ that are not needed: The heatshields do NOT have to be touched, the oxygen sensor wires/clips do not have to be removed from the crossember, and you do not have to remove the return line (although it is easier to do so).

5) Based upon what I saw post-mortem, you can move the gear selector into "1" every time you get into the car and it won't help one bit. The contacts are not balls (like you would think and hope), but "knife" slides, and what happens is that the contacts on the switch arc (burn) and will not conduct properly. Moisture contamination is also a problem.

6) There are 4 larger (~14 ga) and 4 smaller (~18 ga) wires in the connector, of the larger, only the Red and Blue are functional, and they are the neutral safety wires. Blue/red in (engine harness side) is from the relay in the underhood fuse panel, blue out (both sides) is to the starter solenoid.

7) The switch really cannot be installed so the car will not start, the range of adjustment is too narrow. The adjustment really only affects the B/U lamps and signaling the gear selection to the TCM/ECM.

I have uploaded the photos I took during disassembly of the SWITCH so we can see what's inside. Notice the corrosion on two of the terminals in the connector.

In the photo of the slide contact diagram (I made), the sweep arm upper two contacts are the neutral safety contacts, the lower two pairs are GROUNDED thru the sweep arm (heavier line and ground symbol at piviot). Park is left and down (fully CCW), and "1" is up (fully CW).
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JohnG 1989 245 MT @ 225,000