Trouble with Neutral Switch

[harold]

I replaced my neutral switch with a new one, and it broke immediatly. The old one had a ball bearing on the end, and the new one had what looked like a bullet nose sticking out, which you can kind of see in the picture. I put it in, it worked, and I shifted it into first and back into neutral without starting the motor. It then stopped working. When I took it out, the bullet part now looks like a ball bearing again, and it no longer has continuity from the inside ball to the screw. It was identical to the one I took out in length and now everything, since neither works.

Anyone else have this problem, or do you think I just got a defective one? I can't figure out how the bullet end turned into a ball, but pictures don't lie. SInce something made the original break, it would seem like it might be going into the motor a bit too far. It has a copper washer to seal, which I guess could be thicker if need be.