'97 taurus gl electrical gremlin

Hi All,
I manage my sister-in-laws '97 Taurus GL for her, and she now tells me that she has this problem--weird with the description I got:
She says as she is driving, the seat belt dash icon will flash on and off and she also hears a clicking sound and the following happens
1) radio quits
2) power windows wont work
3) intermittent wipers wont work but the slow/fast regular will
4) steering gets stiff on turns
and the lights dim somewhat.

I used to be able to diagnosis most stuff on autos--but with electronics the way they are now, I wouldnt even try here.
When we bought this car in the rough with over 100,000 miles last year, I immediately performed most of the maintenance I observed as needed. The fomer owner(s) obviously just milked this auto until it was time to dispense with it. One electrical item I found suspect was a major grounding post adjacent to the battery (a body ground). It was loose. It took some work to fix because it was essentially a post riveted to the adjacent fender wall metal. Turning a wrench on it simply made it turn and good grounding was suspect. I do not believe this has anything to do with the above now, but just appears to be another reason why there could be other electrical gremlins lurking in this Taurus--which seem to be a design or age flaw? The fact that she has these problems while driving suggest something electrical is loose--but where and what to toghten or correct? Of course I don't believe the steering is part of this---but I don't really know (power steering has no electrical system connection?)! Before I potentially head for an electrical shop-----does anyone have ideas or seen this before?

Replace the neutral safety switch, it sits on top of the trans underneath the air cleaner boot. It has a big connector with a bunch of wires.. only have to line up 2 marks I believe, easy to install. Costs around 40 bucks or so I think

Taurus King hit that one on the head. If you look down in front of the master cylinder, you will see the part. Plkace trans in neutral, set parking brake and remove the wiring and 2 little screws. To install the new one, foll directions in package to line up neutral marks and tighten screws. it almost takes me as long to type this response as it does to replace one. Good luck.

Thanks ever so much guys---Lord bless you:wink:!!!!! This has to be right. I typed Neutral safety switch and searched and got a Wikipedia answer that had a Taurus answer with the symptoms she described. I am surprised that a power steering function is wrapped up in this part. Likewise I am glad I had my wife write out her complaint on paper so I could quote it here. This has been an invaluable forum to me again. The part however is either 8 or 11 pin and Autozone sells these --8 pin for $30 and 11 pin for $78. I will be looking to replace this shortly. .....Now if I can figure out how to reach the radiator upper hose connection to replace that hose. It is overdue for replacement. My boss had told me that his sons Taurus front end had to be taken apart just to work on the AC and radiator.

PS

--- 8 pin is for the AX4S and 11 pin is for the AX4N.

The ones I've done on my cars were the cheaper ones, with ax4s trans.. my 99 has the ax4n. 97 I'm not sure, maybe both trans were available???

Just curious, how a bad neutral safety switch can cause the radio and other things to shut down and power steering issues?

It's pretty well-documented in this forum. Try searching the forum for "TRS" or "Range Sensor" and you'll find quite a few odd electrical issues that have been solved by the Transmission Range Sensor.

-Rod

Here is a partial diagram of the sensor.

I bought the 11 pin unit ($80 with tax). The box looks like it had sat on the shelf for some time. I'll be doing this work late this weekend. Hope I got the right one. If not they told me they will exchange it for the 8. Obviously spending $40 vs $80 would be nice. I won't see the car until Sunday, weather permitting.

Hey.....
I did this work this morning and all went well except that I had to exhange the 11 pin for an 8 pin (the smaller unit) as that's what the car has. Here's some pics. The unit was marked with a line and has a neutral marking for easy installation. Last year we had the brake master cylinder done by others and I notice that the cap must be defective as fluid drips out there. And....naturally that is directly above this TRS module. We'll wait to see how the TRS works out--the car runs and shifts smooth.

Do the lamps stay lit in the door control buttons? I wonder......

JR