Thread: Guidance for replacing my XYZ switch.

Hi
I have had this problem a couple of times now on my D2. I have now pulled the last switch apart flushed it out and repacked it with vasoline and replaced it on the car and so far (30,000ks) no problems. they fill up with water from the aircon.

Hi Chris, I had all your same symptoms that you have. I thought XYZ switch too.
I took my 1999 d2 to an auto gearbox shop and they put it on a diagnostic computer. It turned out to be oil and dirt in the plug on top of the gearbox/xyz switch. they unplugged it cleaned it and it has been perfect since. I too had all your problems with rain etc. It was a very cheap fix for me. I just wish it could be for you as well.
The car was on a hoist and the mechanic did the actual unpluging so I can't help you with how to do that . Maybe a mirror would help or someone on this forum with far more nouse than I will chime in for you. Best of luck.Nick.

Have just completed this task on my 03 D2a TD5 auto. It is a fiddly job and awkward at times but quite doable. The RAVE procedure is confusing and frankly I had to ignore it to get the job done in the end. You don't need that special tool either... Pretty much did it in this order:

1. Vehicle in P, do the job when the car is cold or you'll have a hard time moving hands around the exhaust.
2. Release nut holding selector cable to xyz switch/auto selector, 13mm I think- ratchet spanner the go if you have one. Do the nut holding the switch to the auto (it's the higher of the two), not the one on the selector cable as I did- it is fiddly to get back together and unnecessary. Pull the link to the selector cable off the switch/auto selector shaft.
3. release undo two retaining bolts, 12mm I think. I had enough room to get a small 3/4" ratchet in with a socket to get the rearmost one which is the trickiest. Lie parallel to the axles with your head to (US) driver's side and slide in to get the best angle, then use your left arm to go up behind the exhaust and come around to get at that bolt.
4. Mark the switch and auto selector shaft so you can be sure to line it up again. Release the switch from the auto selector shaft by working it forwards with your hands and maybe a screwdriver to gently lever it at times. The switch is now off but still connected to the multi plug.
5. Release the multi plug (still connected up) from the holding bracket- was fiddly, you need a small screwdriver to help prise up the retaining clip. Was almost the hardest part of the job for me. A good torch is gold here.
6. Now you can open up the multiplug and inspect- if an obvious problem in terms of dirt etc inside the plug then clean with contact cleaner and maybe put it back and see how you go. Mine was clean so I knew the problem lay elsewhere.
7. Assuming the multiplug was clean remove the switch.
8. Drill out the rivets using a 4mm drill bit, switch will open up easily. Adjust the copper contacts inside- quite easy, just gently fold each one back couple of mm so that when the two halves of the switch come back together there is good contact. Add a little vaseline or similar- I didn't pack mine with it as i thought this may create a resistance that might bend the copper contacts?
9. Put the switch back together- i used cable ties as I didn;t have anything else, elsewhere I have read 4 x 15mm bolts with nylock nuts works well, think you need 8.
10.Connect the switch back to the multi plug, but don't fit to the metal retaining clip yet- feed the xyz switch back to where it needs to be taking care feed the harness the right way
11. Ensure the switch is in Park by orienting as it will be when in place on the vehicle and rotating the switch fully clockwise. (also check that the auto selector shaft is still in P by gripping with pliers and rotating fully clockwise too)
12. Mount it back on to the auto selector shaft, hopefully your marking lines up and is a good guide- refit the 12mm retaining bolts to a firm but not completely tight state.
13 slide the selector cable link back on to the auto selector switch, and you are ready to test. Start the car and move your selector through all the gears, hopefully no m & s flashing lights. Also check that each little red light comes on as a steady (not flashing) light on the auto and the dash registers each gear. If so all good! (This refit was where RAVE confused hell out of me- thanks aulro posters for helping me out with these instructions)
14 tighten up the retaining bolts, fit the 13mm nut to the auto selector shaft and plug the harness back into it's reatining clip. You're done!

Hopefully this helps. All up it took me about 3 hours, but I saved a lot of $$. Good luck

Hey Chris, just realised you have a new switch- never mind I didn;t mark mine before removing it- I just made sure both selector shaft and switch were in P position and put it back on, it lined up perfectly first time. Cheers

Well today I replaced my XYZ switch with a used one from eBay and everything for the most part seems fine. Here is a little write up of what worked for me. Thankfully my transmission is very clean so I hardly soiled my hands. I would normally wear gloves but this switch is in a tight spot where gloves would interfere and there is a need for that tactile feeling that you loose with gloves.

I first disconnected the shift cable mount plate from the transmission shift shaft using a 13mm ratcheting box wrench. I decided to also remove a small heat/sound shield that attaches to the body just to make a bit more room, it was held on with 2 10mm nuts. I then removed the 2 10mm bolts that hold the switch to the transmission and carefully slid the switch off. My goal was to avoid moving the wheel within the switch so I could align my replacement as closely as possible with the one I took off.

The tricky part is to get the plug disconnected. It is in a very tight space higher above the switch so I decided to release the shift cable from it's mount to make more room for my hands. It is held in place with a C-clip and once that was removed I slid the cable back to get it detached from it's mount and let it just hang out of the way. I used a long screwdriver to release the entire plug assembly from the metal tab attached to the transmission that holds the plug and harness in place and the cable dropped down making it very easy to pinch the tabs and remove the switch.

I took the old switch and the new one to my workbench where the lighting is better and using a large screwdriver bladed turned the wheel within the replacement switch to attempt to match the one I just took out. Who knows what gear the replacement switch was in when it was removed. I eyeballed it as best I could.

Reversed the removal process to reinstall the switch and other then being a bit uncomfortable squirming under my truck I got it all back in place. I cleaned my work area (I hate when I accidentally run over tools) and started the car up. Went into reverse fine and backed out of the driveway and took a short drive. No M/S lights or OBDII code (I had cleared it prior to starting my repair) and the shifting seems smooth.

Only thing I noticed is that when in Park I see the P on the dash and also in D, 3, 2, and 1 as well as the small red light next to each gear on the shift console. However I am not seeing R when in Reverse or N in Neutral or the corresponding red light on the console. I had no problem backing up and the rear wiper did come on in reverse when I turned on the front wipers. I am guessing that my switch needs a bit of fine tuning where it mounts to the transmission. Not that big of a deal to me as long as it goes into gear and I don't get the M/S lights, etc.

Just a final thought on the switch I took out. The overall shape and configuration is the same but there are very slight differences with the one I put in. The plastic part of the housing is bit different. Mine is a 2003 and the one I got to replace I believe came out of a 2001. Also the corrugated plastic sleeve that shields the wires was cracked and broken, I wonder if this is how water gets into the switch. There does not look like there is much of a seal where the wires enter the switch. On the one I installed I squeezed some RTV cement there to seal it better and also wrapped the entire plastic wire cover with black electrical tape. And from what I can tell, the AC drain drips right above the spot where the wires enter the switch. Seem like this would be the more likely way that water enters the switch over time.

I didn't bother to reroute the AC drains at this time as the small nipples that come into the transmission tunnel would be hard to attach something to. I think one would need to get at the drains where the exit the AC unit in the vehicle to attach some tubing. I'm hopeful that with the wires sealed with RTV I should be able to keep water out. Happy that I got it resolved and only spent $140 (US) for the switch. I plan to disassemble my old one and clean it up and put it back together for a spare.

I've just replaced my XYZ switch a 04 D2A that had been intermittent for years but mainly when selecting reverse.
Some comments in addition to the above.

The best value switch I could find was from Ashcroft in the UK for about BP200 landed in Australia. It took just over a week. This is about half the best local price I found. Its identical to the original.

First disconnect the exhaust from the engine and just forward of the muffler. I just couldn't work around it. The nuts on the engine end require a 15mm spanner, they aren't that common. The muffler end is 17mm.

Release the nut holding the selector to the switch (13mm)

Undo the two bolts holding the switch (10mm)

Undo the two bolts holding the bracket that holds the connector and selector cable. (8mm). Remove the bracket from the electrical connector as if is part of the connector lock.

The electrical connector can now be separated by pushing the tab and pulling.

The replacement switch is keyed and can't be re-positioned incorrectly.

Reassembly is just the reverse and very fiddly. Don't forget to reattach the exhaust rubber suspension mount before the bolts.

My regular 1/4 inch ratchet drive was too big, but I also have a smaller headed drive that just fitted.

Have fun

I've just pulled the switch apart
The problem wasn't due to water.
There is one contact in the switch which isn't a sliding contact, the slider is held above the pad on rails and only drops down in one position. This contact had developed a bad contact.
There are three attached photos showing the contacts.

I

didn't bother to reroute the AC drains at this time as the small nipples that
come into the transmission tunnel would be hard to attach something to

it's pretty easy to reroute the drains providing you are descended from Japanese jewellers.
The little "nipple " just pulls off and you are left with a pipe sticking out.
I just got some tube with a similar OD to the ID of the drain, made sure the drain was dry , slathered the tube with Supaglue and pushed it in. I slit the bottom of the tube and replaced the "nipple" on the extension tube to stop mice,wasps etc from getting in.

You can zip tie the tube away from the exhaust. AFAIR , about the only way to get access with a TD5 and Cat, is to reach in from the front.
Mine has survived a Lap of OZ including the Gibb River Road plus a bit.
Regards Philip A