2.3L ('83-'97) neutral safety switch

[Dav]

have a '95 xlt. had a 44E trans but after 5 trannies (3 were aamco-HUGE mistake) i put a 5MOD from a 94 in it. 2 years later the safety switch is not switching; step, push, stamp, stomp and maybe, just maybe, it will crank. i am now at the point of looking for parking spots that i can roll out of to jump start (not an easy thing to find in flat florida). this is the second switch to do this. the switch just floats on the clutch rod, which to my thinking is odd, that it should be a fixed mounting but that's how it was on the 94 and the pick-your-own truck. anyone have this problem? and how did you fix it?
in the near future i want to go back to an automatic trannie. i will need to do a motor swap also as this totally stock 2.3 has over 400k miles and is getting tired. seems the 44E was a not very good trans. what motor/trans can i bolt in, understanding that the wiring/computer will also have to be swapped. i won't care about gutting a junker for the wiring but i don't want to have to swap all the dash stuff putting it in the 95

 

[franklin2]

If they give me too much trouble, I just wire around it. Sure, it will start in gear, but I never had a problem with it, I always push the clutch in before cranking.

Here's a diagram. You should have to only jump the red/lightblue wire. The other parts of the switch are to knock out the cruise control if you push the clutch pedal, and a signal to the computer to put it in a different fueling strategy if you push on the clutch pedal.

 

[RonD]

I will assume you don't have a THEFT system, which was an option but not ordered much in 1995, first year for it

The clutch switch doesn't need to be fixed to the pushrod, no need to do that, its a compression switch

There are 3 separate switches inside it, all 3 are open/disconnected when switch is uncompressed/floating
When you push clutch pedal down the switch is sandwiched between master and pedal and compresses which closes all 3 switches inside
One pair of wires, on one switch, is for Starter activation, they are next to each other on one end of the switch
Red/blue is common as is pink for wire colors on starter activation in 1995

Yes, these 2 wires can just be spliced together full time and if clutch switch is the problem then its by passed
People often use Trailer Light splice connectors to do this, like these: https://mechanicalelements.com/wp-content/uploads/t-splice.png

If clutch pedal feels loose it could be worn out bushings so not compressing the clutch switch enough each time
You can slice a rubber hose and put it over upper end of pushrod, thin piece of hose, then tape it, it will compress the switch a bit more if thats the issue

 

[Dav]

crawled under the dash to see what wires you are talking about. mine are multi-colored wires so i wasn't sure which ones i wanted. as i was moving the pedal to see, something fell on me- part of a small plastic clip. hmmm. looked on the O'Reilly site and found the part; Dormann 74014, got it, and now i have a functioning safety switch! love it when a plan comes together!
thanks for the help