May 31, 200619 yr I'll try to keep this story short. I left my '02 OBW ~75k in the driveway for about a week, running fine. I head to work this morn and I hear a knocking noise, kinda like when a stone is stuck in the tire as I drive down the road (but a little more metallic now that I think about it). I figure it'll work itself out. Well I hit about 40 going downhill and as I slow to a stop, it works itself out. CEL comes on, car is running fine though. I get on the highway and I notice no speedometer and no odometer. Sweet! I look later and the three wires for my VSS have all been cut near the main harness. One of the other cable casings has been chewed up pretty bad. I taped 'em back together for now, will have to find some solderless crimp fittings. Interestingly enough, with no VSS the engine won't rev past 4500rpm (hits the fule or rev cut). And the revs seem to "hang" when shifting. Looked on the street, but couldn't find the culprit.. must have wrapped something around the axle... I guess. (Unless I'm missing a part now! ) One question, on the driver side of the trans (MT) there are two plugs, I assume one is for the reverse light switch. What's the other for?
May 31, 200619 yr Yeah the car does some funky stuff without the VSS working properly. So yeah I'd recommend trying to fix the wiring as soon as you can. The two things on the driver's side of the MT are the neutral switch & reverse switch.
June 2, 200619 yr Author Yeah the car does some funky stuff without the VSS working properly. So yeah I'd recommend trying to fix the wiring as soon as you can. The two things on the driver's side of the MT are the neutral switch & reverse switch. Yep she's almost as good as new now. Out of curiosity, what does the neutral switch do?
June 2, 200619 yr It tells the ECU wether the Car is in gear or in neutral. If you put an ohmeter on the switch you will notice the circuit closes when in nuetral and opens in gear...or vice versa...now what it actually does to the fuel mapping etc...i dont think it does anything, but it is there
June 2, 200619 yr Out of curiosity, what does the neutral switch do? Mostly, it minimizes lawsuits . When it's working correctly, it usually prevents the starter from cranking in any gear position other than neutral, so that if the clutch is engaged the car won't move. (If it's defective or misadjusted, it can prevent the starter from working at all, or allow it to crank in a driven gear.)
June 3, 200619 yr Author Car definitely starts in gear, as long as the clutch is pushed in. I didn't even think of it, but I bet it causes the cruise to turn off if it's bumped out of gear. Reason I ask is that the casing with those wires had a bit of damage, fixed it, but just wanted to make sure nothing bad would happen just in case. Cheers.
June 3, 200619 yr Mostly, it minimizes lawsuits . When it's working correctly, it usually prevents the starter from cranking in any gear position other than neutral, so that if the clutch is engaged the car won't move. (If it's defective or misadjusted, it can prevent the starter from working at all, or allow it to crank in a driven gear.) Nope....the neutral switch does not prevent the car from starting. The neutral switch tells the ECU when the car is in neutral so the ECU adjusts timing and what not so idle remains steady. It doesn't really do much on a MT, but on an AT, it does. The clutch interlock system prevents the car from starting without depressing the clutch.
June 3, 200619 yr Nope....the neutral switch does not prevent the car from starting. The neutral switch tells the ECU when the car is in neutral so the ECU adjusts timing and what not so idle remains steady. It doesn't really do much on a MT, but on an AT, it does. The clutch interlock system prevents the car from starting without depressing the clutch. Sorry, that's what a guy who owns an OB with AT gets for giving generic info !
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