Gear shifter markings are off (1998 Camry)

[2000-Avalon]

Hi fellas,

I am wondering, on the gear selector, when the car is in park, the little orange marker is in P like it’s supposed to be.When in reverse, it also reads correct and lines up with the R. Likewise with neutral.

However, after neutral, when shifted to “drive”, the orange marker by the shifter remains on “N”… it’s as if it’s stuck or something. The transmission works fine, but the marker will not move down past “N”. What could be causing this? The markers on the instrument cluster work perfectly fine, the problem is by the shifter assembly.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Mister_Perkins]

No the problem is not caused by your shifter assembly. It sounds like its a problem with your Neutral Safety Switch contacts since after "N" it doesn't move on the indicator bar.

I would look into checking the continuity between the pins on the NSS and making sure that its working correctly (Which I'm guessing its not)

I dont know if the NSS is the same between 96 and 98, but the following picture is for a 92-96 3rd gen. Maybe Fenixus or someone with a Gen4 FSM can chime in and let you know if this picture is the same between generations. But thats the basic concept in testing it. Just get a continuity tester and while your putting the car in each gear your testing the pins in the chart to the side of the picture. If you dont have continuity between certain pins the FSM indicates to replace the NSS.

Picture: