I have a 4 speed and i ordered a new switch for it because the old one is playing up every now and then.

Anyway i ordered a new switch and it has no contiinuity between the points pictured when pressed in.

Yet the old one does.

so anyway  they sent me a second replacement after i asked them to test it before sending and it is the same as the first am i losing the plot can somebody please confirm these two points are how the switch works.

 

One replacement was mid-usa the other had made in mexico on the box.

My old one does work when i clean it but it has rusty muck that comes out of it and it is showing it's age that is why i thought i'll get a new one what can it hurt .
My problem is that 2 dodgy switches has me second guessing myself .

I don't know much about this switch as such, but I read that there are some which are normally open, and some normally closed, because of the way different gearboxes work the neutral switch. If your replacement has continuity when out, and not when pressed in, it's probably a normally closed switch and you need a normally open one.......

Just a guess.

Yes wiring is fine the old switch is working fine at the moment .

The only thing i can think of is maybe the cheapo switches rely on an earth contact with the shift plate notch to activate the light .
surely they can't be that dodgy though.