Toyota 84540-12230 Switch Assy, Neutral Start

Start by disconnecting the car's battery, lifting the vehicle, and putting it on jackstands to work on the Toyota Highlander TR sensor. Unplug the TR sensor electric wires, unfasten the shift control cable from the lever, and disconnect the cable. You need to take off the nut that holds the control shaft lever to the manual valve shaft. Then you push open the lockplate tabs and loosen the manual valve shaft nut. Unbolt the TR sensor from place, and pull it off. When your vehicle is a later model, remove the air filter cover first. Then pop off the locking cap by turning it counterclockwise, and take down the electrical wire on the Park/Neutral switch. Disconnect the control shaft nut, shaft, and locking washer to raise the switch off its place on the manual shaft. To install the sensor, put it onto the valve shaft first and tighten the mounting bolts loosely. Place the control shaft lever back on the manual valve shaft, turn it counterclockwise until it stops moving, then clockwise two full turns as you watch the indicator on the lockplate, until it shows the Neutral position. Push the lockplate pointer until it matches the Neutral base line, put in a fresh lockplate, tighten the nut holding the manual valve shaft firmly, and press the lockplate tabs into the nut. Put the manual shift lever in Neutral, put the Park/Neutral switch onto the manual shaft, and quickly screw on its mounting bolts. Put the control arm onto the manual shaft. Turn it clockwise until it stops, then counterclockwise through two complete turns. Check the position of the control shaft on the lockplate. Push it on until you see the indicator point sit at the neutral basic line. Lock the bolts into place. Push the shaft onto its place, put the washer, and screw the nut on tightly. You twist the control shaft slowly first by turning right until it stops, then left two full rotations, and add the control cable and shoe. The setup process reverses what we did to take the car apart.

In the event the BTSI system fails and the shift lever cannot be moved out of gear, the system is equipped with an override feature that allows manual operation with the parking brake ON and the engine OFF.

If the engine starts with the shift lever in any position other than Park or Neutral, the switch should be adjusted.

The transmission position switch acts as an information sensor for the Electronic Controlled Transaxle (ECT) Powertrain Control Module (PCM). When the shift lever is placed in position, the Park/Neutral position switch sends a voltage signal to the PCM.