Transmission range sensor

my 2009 Tacoma has been sitting for about 2months while I’ve been out of town. I started it up and the steering seems stiff and the shifter hard to shift. While driving, the check engine light came on. A diagnostic said it was PO705 transmission range sensor. It seems to run fine. A friend told me it could be a chewed wire or corrosion. Anyone have any ideas? It’s 236$ for the replacement part.

 

While it’s possible the shift cable is sticking, it shouldn’t cause a code.
I would Crawl under the truck and look for the Neutral Safety Switch.
It on the side of the transmission.
Inspect it closely for rust and the connector for corrosion.


Then see here for testing it.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/p0705-code-and-subsequent-cel-issues.687466/#post-24501335

And here for proper alignment if you replace it.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/transmission-range-sensor.668887/#post-23473593

 

I think that got it!!!!!

 

What got it?

 

I think it was a combination of corrosion and sitting a long time. Cleaned it up a little bit and the check engine light went out.

 

Similar issue here..... I have three Toyotas and my Tacoma has not gotten a lot of recent use. I got into it today to bring my 4 dogs to the vet and I got a check engine light as well as a traction control light on the dash. 300k miles on this Tacoma and relatively few issues. VERY difficult to shift between gears. Not impossible but noticeably more difficult than I remember. I cleared my p0705 code and it has not come back ...yet but I know it will. The p0705 code refers to the transmission range sensor, not the neutral safety switch which is what I am not understanding. Are they one and the same or two different items? By the grace of Toyota the neutral switch is relatively easy to access so I was thinking of swapping that out and see what happens. $130 and an hour or two of my time. I don't see how an electronic position switch would effect the difficulty of physical shifting though. Anyone have any thoughts, prayers or thoughtful suggestions?

 

The Transmission Range Switch and Park/Neutral Position Switch are the same thing albeit two separate circuits within the same switch.

They get corroded especially in areas where salt/corrosive chemicals are used on the roads and sieze causing the transmission shift linkage to bind and/or the P0705 code.

Check the connector as well, it's common for it to get corrsion in it as well.

 

I thank you for taking the time to reply to an issue that has probably been discussed a lot already. When I was under the truck in my preliminary inspection to get the lay of the land I did check the connections. Everything looked good but I will certainly clean them off inside and out. I am in the northeast where they salt everything at the drop of a hat. My Tacoma has 300k miles on it and I use it for towing so it is in and around salt and salt water every day. I am actually online now looking for a replacement rear bumper. It made it through ten years of punishment. Sadly it rusted out from the inside and disintegrated seemingly overnight. I always have concerns about reliability so even if I find the connections are clean I will likely replace the switch anyway. I can't afford to get stuck if the switch finally decides to go. Reading the experiences of others I see the vehicle may not move if the switch does fail. The switch itself is not too expensive and fortunately not located somewhere that inconvenient. Thanks again for your input.