Disable Neutral Safety Switch on Automatic Transmission

Has anyone successfully (and hopefully easily) disabled their Neutral Safety Switch? (Correction: Shift interlock. Thx Ol' Rattler) That's the solenoid under the shift lever that locks it in N or P until you hit the brake pedal.
I'd explain why I need this done, but can do without the inevitable flood of nanny-state admonishments not to remove this "feature".
FYI 2005 VW Golf TDI, I own a Bentley book but not the VAG and have already taken the top of the shift assembly apart. Far enough to see that the solenoid appears to be too deep down in there to easily get to.

I've never known anyone to do this, let alone have a need to do this. I suppose you could tear it all apart and figure out what you need to do to remove the plunger. And I can't say I have ever seen that mechanism mess up on one of these cars, either, but I have seen plenty of failed brake light switches that can cause the car not to be able to be taken out of park. After three versions, though, they seem to have gotten the switches right.

IMO, the neutral safety switch is a solution looking for a problem. That said, that is the way it is. The only benefit I can see of defeating the switch is when trying to rock the car in mud and snow. There may be others, but that point is moot. The OP wants to defeat the device.
And I'm of no help about defeating the switch.
frank

I have, and it is easy. Just unplug it at the shifter.

AS an aside, you are not trying to disable the NSS, you are trying to disable the shift interlock.

The NSS is what prevents the starter from engaging in gear.

I read a thread recently were the OP disabled the shift interlock by unplugging a 3 wire connector that plugs into the interlock mechanism on the shifter.

The shift interlock is just another case of the nanny state trying to protect us from ourselves. If you have more than 2 brain cells to rub together, most of the time you step on the brake coming out of park, anyway.

It just kills me that most stuff is designed to keep Darwin Award candidates from taking their place in the scheme of things.

Take the damn nannies out! I'm a big fan of natural de-selection!

Ol'Rattler said:

The shift interlock is just another case of the nanny state trying to protect us from ourselves. If you have more than 2 brain cells to rub together, most of the time you step on the brake coming out of park, anyway.

It just kills me that most stuff is designed to keep Darwin Award candidates from taking their place in the scheme of things.

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That might seem true, but it's a feature I'm glad to have. It prevents a child grabbing the shifter and putting the car in gear, and it also prevents people who get the gas and brake confused from slamming the car into gear and running me over in a parking lot.

And like you said, you should be pressing the brake anytime you're shifting into gear anyway, so this feature doesn't intrude.

Unplugging the shift lock solenoid will set a fault code in the transmission. I don't know if it will illuminate the check engine light.

-J

It will not illuminate the CEL. The code is set in the transmission and is a "hidden" code to anything that is not a Vag-com capable reader.

As far as the "benefits" of this interlock, if someone is incapable of determining which is the gas or the brake, they are NOT a driver of my vehicles. So that argument has no impact, and you and I are still at just as much risk of being run over by a blue-hair in the parking lot.

I don't have children, don't plan to have any, but even if I did... I would neither leave them alone in the car nor allow them into the front seat anyway. Safer in the back.

If you want ultimate safety when leaving your vehicle, just pull up all the way on the E-brake handle. It takes a fair bit of strength to un-do that, and it is guaranteed security should the car somehow get back into gear while the engine is running.

Only emission related DTC's turn on the CEL. Any non emission related DTC requires you to use a code reader to retrieve them.

I agree that disabling the shift interlock really is a bad idea as a child could put it in gear easily if left unattended and with it disabled the shifter would not be locked in park when the key is removed.

It would really suck if an innocent child received a Darwin award that a supposed responsible adult should have rightfully received for doing something really stupid and dangerous that could harm others.

Also on any automatic, anytime the engine is running and you are not in the car, you really should set the E-brake.

Ol'Rattler said:

AS an aside, you are not trying to disable the NSS, you are trying to disable the shift interlock.

The NSS is what prevents the starter from engaging in gear.

I read a thread recently were the OP disabled the shift interlock by unplugging a 3 wire connector that plugs into the interlock mechanism on the shifter.

The shift interlock is just another case of the nanny state trying to protect us from ourselves. If you have more than 2 brain cells to rub together, most of the time you step on the brake coming out of park, anyway.

It just kills me that most stuff is designed to keep Darwin Award candidates from taking their place in the scheme of things.

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Amen, tired of all this "safety crap" when its mostly common sense.

Ol'Rattler said:

I agree that disabling the shift interlock really is a bad idea as a child could put it in gear easily if left unattended and with it disabled the shifter would not be locked in park when the key is removed.

It would really suck if an innocent child received a Darwin award that a supposed responsible adult should have rightfully received for doing something really stupid and dangerous that could harm others.

Also on any automatic, anytime the engine is running and you are not in the car, you really should set the E-brake.

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Make up your mind,

But yeah, DON'T leave the engine running with a kid loose in the car, again, just simply common sense, which I guess we are running out of.

Safety devices have come such a long way... The 1980 Rabbit 1.5L IDI I had a few years back with 4 speed trans, could be started in gear and clutch out. Not practical by any means, but definitely entertaining.

Unless your rabbit had the optional "passive" door mounted seatbelts, then the driver's side belt needed to be bucked to start the motor

-J

My 1978 Toyota pickup could be started in gear with the clutch out and that "feature" saved my butt one day. I was in Detroit, down at the river for the Unlimited Hydroplane race. It was getting late in the afternoon and was time to head out and find the hotel. I go the truck and find the clutch pedal to be very mushy. I barely made it to a gas station where I found out the clutch master cylinder piston had scored the cylinder walls and was leaking. I tried putting more fluid in, but it was dead. So with darkness approaching, in Detroit, I might add, I decided to attempt to make it home to Ohio without a functioning clutch.

I had the truck for so long that I was able to shift into 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th without the clutch. But, the problem was how to get the truck moving. The solution, if the car was pointed downhill was to pop the clutch. Level ground was the problem. So, I used the starter to get it moving in gear. That worked, but it bucked/oscillated until it was going fast enough to shift to second. I only had to do that twice, once in Detroit and once at a fuel stop on the way back to Ohio.

Jolly said:

Safety devices have come such a long way... The 1980 Rabbit 1.5L IDI I had a few years back with 4 speed trans, could be started in gear and clutch out. Not practical by any means, but definitely entertaining.

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I had to do that once on a Dodge Daytona I had in the 80's . . . cable operated clutch, and it broke on I90 halfway between Chicago and Rockford, on a Sunday no less. Drove to a friends in the area (actually where I was heading . . .) clutchless, and then had to start in gear on the level the next AM to get it to the dealer (warrantly). Ugly, but it got it done, and avoided a long $pendy tow. I could shift that car clutchless through all gears with no noise/delay at all . . . just glad I was playing with perfecting my technique when the cable failed.

- Tim

turbovan+tdi said:

Make up your mind,

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Oh ya, I have certainly made up my mind. In my first post, I answered the OP's "how to" question, and in my second post I elaborated on if in my opinion disabling the shift interlock is a good idea.

I didn't see an answer to the question anywhere, I have done this(disabled the shift lock permanently while I owned it to all of the automatics I needed to drive for any period of time)....

Before anyone repeats the safety bs, there are no children are around my cars, no one else even drives them, so the safety argument is irrelevant to my question......In my case, the shift lock only serves an irritating action the car takes when I don't need it to do this...

So I ask the question, does the 04 passat tdi have a shift lock override button "like every other automatic of this era I have ever owned has had"?

I want to use that button if it is there to disable the shift lock for as long as I own it because it makes it easier for me to drive(the way I use "N") with my disability in both of my legs....

I don't know of any "override button" but the interlock is just a magnetic solenoid pin that responds to the computer. Likely it is in the shift handle just like on the MKIV, probably a two or three wire connector.

I know on my new MKVI Jetta Sportwagen that the interlock is DEFINITELY computer controlled, as while I was programming with the Flashzilla, I happened to be messing around while waiting and pulled the handle out of park with the engine off. As soon as the programming was done, the shifter was locked again. According to Malone, the programming process makes all the modules "disconnect" from the ECU so they don't interfere.

There may be a way to cure this via an adaptation, but I don't know where that would be, IF it is even possible.

unplugging the solenoid is faster and (other than disassembly of the interior) easier.

AFAIK the solenoid is normally blocking a shift from P or N, and the computer turns it on to allow the shift.

My 91 Mercedes has a mechanical interlock, the 03 EuroVan, 04 Touareg, 09 Tiguan, 12 Passat, 13 500e, and 18 Model 3 all have electronic brake / park interlocks. I can't say I've ever felt one was getting in the way

-J

I am continuing to loose my ability to use my legs as easily due to the nerve damage I suffered over three & half decades ago.

Having the ability shift in & out of "N" without having to move my legs that extra movement to override that stupid unneeded shift lock does make things that little bit easier on me. So that makes disabling this thing worth it to me.....

And I have gotten along just fine for close to 4 decades without needing a shift lock nanning me in my over 3,000,000 million safe miles clocked....

"I" Really do not get why vwag didn't just give us an easily assessable override button like every toyota & honda I have ever owned/driven has...???...

I noticed on my beater 09 Jetta gasser that you can go from reverse to neutral to drive without pressing the brake. You can neutral drop it at 4,000 RPMs if you wanted to.......that may or may not have been tried.......