72 monte carlo wont start in neutral?

[cooter]

I have a column shift and was having to hold shifter towards park just light pressure and it would start. Nothing in park( no start). Seat belt buzzer and light on dash worked fine,  backup lights worked fine. Ordered AC delco switch, started fine in park, no back up lights, no start in neutral, seat belt buzzer worked best I can remember. So i remove it and send it back. reinstalled old switch for time being but buzzer dont work and seat belt light is dim and gen light is on dim. Ordered standard motor NS14 switch. Starts in park, back up lights work, no start in neutral, when I put car in drive without seat belt on  seat belt buzzer dont work and seat belt light on dash is dim and gen light is on but when I put seat belt on you can barely see gen light on dash? Switch tests good on table. Took old switch apart and cleaned old grease out and cleaned contacts, reaplied lithium grease internaly and put back together. It tests good on table. None of the Neutral no start makes any sense or the seat belt situation with the buzzer or gen light? Now if I unplug the seat belt buzzer/light plug from the switch the dim light situation goes away. Thats to be expected. Well, thats where I'm at. scratching my head on this one. The no start neutral really has me puzzled.

 

Cooter

[jft69z]

Did you properly adjust the neutral safety switch?

Look here:

https://www.firstgenmc.com/forums/index.php?/topic/22909-reverse-lights-stay-on/#comment-217199

 

[cooter]

Multiple times. 

[jft69z]

5 minutes ago, cooter said:

Multiple times. 

I added a link in my prior post that had dealt with the NSS adjustment. Not too many other things that will cause no start in neutral. The purple wires that feed starter are the same that feed it in park, BUT they go thru that NSS first. Something is interrupting signal flow in neutral.

We know you have power to the NSS in park, and it makes it to the starter. Maybe see if you still have power to it in neutral. If so, then the NSS still needs adjustment. If not, then you have other issues...

[cooter]

We’re on same page with our thoughts on the Neutral side. As far as the seat belt light and buzzer situation that one really blows my mind. You ever look at something and think afterwards you should have just left well enough alone? 😂 

[cooter]

I have factory 72 service manual and have been looking at wiring schematics 

[cooter]

I even tried holding ignition switch at start position and moving shifter up and down slightly to see if it would start. Looks like I’m gonna have to go under dash with test light and check power on purple wire as shift lever is moved to see where issue is. Work backwards from there?

[jft69z]

16 minutes ago, cooter said:

 You ever look at something and think afterwards you should have just left well enough alone? 😂 

Almost every day...😄

[jft69z]

12 minutes ago, cooter said:

I even tried holding ignition switch at start position and moving shifter up and down slightly to see if it would start. Looks like I’m gonna have to go under dash with test light and check power on purple wire as shift lever is moved to see where issue is. Work backwards from there?

Yes, need to establish power to NSS first. If it's not making it there, need to find where the disconnect is occurring.

I'm going to eat breakfast in a bit, then will start poking around a schematic.

I'll PM you my phone number too.

[Chevy Dave]

My neutral safety switch was not getting power, so I replaced the ignition switch and still no power to the NSS. The problem was that the sector gear and rack inside the steering column was worn and would not allow the rod to the ignition switch to travel far enough.  The tilt column (with floor shift T400) has 71 parts with the steering wheel removed. I sent the column to California to be rebuilt.

[cooter]

5 minutes ago, Chevy Dave said:

My neutral safety switch was not getting power, so I replaced the ignition switch and still no power to the NSS. The problem was that the sector gear and rack inside the steering column was worn and would not allow the rod to the ignition switch to travel far enough.  The tilt column (with floor shift T400) has 71 parts with the steering wheel removed. I sent the column to California to be rebuilt.

I’m wondering if that’s my problem. It’s funny I can’t start in park fine but not neutral? That’s the next area for me to go to. I tested NSS while on car and it’s working properly. Been on my back under dash most of day and 2 phone calls to jft69z. I’m only getting 6 volts at purple wire from ignition switch when in neutral. 12V in park. 

[Scott S.]

Faulty switch ?

Maybe it's loose and shifted slightly out of position ?

[cooter]

Good possibility? I have it narrowed down finally. Te next step is drop the steering column down so I can get to that switch. GM tucked it in there tight!!!

[Scott S.]

Intermittent wire contact ?

I just recently had an issue with my wiper motor.

It stopped working but the fluid pump still worked, so I pulled it and had it bench tested.

It was done and I bought and installed a new one which ran fine for a couple weeks.

The other day I went to use it an nothing. So I tapped the dash and it started up.

Then it quit again. Thinking it was a loose wire, I pulled the plate and checked the wiring. 

I pulled the harness to give it some slack, and it's been working fine ever since. 

Figured the wires just weren't making clean contact. 

?????? lol

 

[Scott S.]

Ahhh.... Yes.

The little joys of a console shifter are greatly appreachiated.

[cooter]

2 minutes ago, Scott S. said:

Ahhh.... Yes.

The little joys of a console shifter are greatly appreachiated.

Oh yeah!!!! I wouldn’t be under this dash possibly?

[Scott S.]

Well, maybe just for the harness connection. But all the rest of it is on the shifter. 

When I first got Montelishi, the previous owner had bypassed the switch with a short pigtail. So when I started fixing the rest of the spagetti, I removed it, not really thinking about why it was there. 

Long story short, it took a few minutes it figure out why she wouldn't start, and after seeing he'd lost the rest of the wiring under the console, it was pretty self explanitory as to why he'd done that. 

[Scott S.]

That's why I love old cars...

There's always a way to get them to get you home without a tow truck and a $2000.00 "mechanic's" bill.

[Dtret]

My 72 has nothing on the floor shifter. The only wires are for the lights. Nss is in the column. 

[jft69z]

14 minutes ago, Dtret said:

My 72 has nothing on the floor shifter. The only wires are for the lights. Nss is in the column. 

My 72 has the NSS and reverse wires in the console.

(Original wiring harness had them in that location also, kept them there with the complete AAW harness as well).

 

(Guaranteed that Glen will say it's because yours is a clone...even though it's not ) 

 

[1970mcss]

I'm also having intermittent starting problems that I had in the past. New battery, starter, neutral safety switch.  The starter is a reman acdelco. What is the starter that would be recommended to replace this one? 

[Chevy Dave]

I used an ACDelco remanufactured starter from Rock Auto, it works great and the price was reasonable.

[Chevy Dave]

I forgot to mention that I had to shim the new starter to get it to work correctly. In over 50 years of working on Chevy V8s, this big block was only one of two I had to shim.

[Scott S.]

21 hours ago, jft69z said:

My 72 has the NSS and reverse wires in the console.

(Original wiring harness had them in that location also, kept them there with the complete AAW harness as well).

 

(Guaranteed that Glen will say it's because yours is a clone...even though it's not ) 

 

Maybe the console was an "addition" ?

[jft69z]

44 minutes ago, Scott S. said:

Maybe the console was an "addition" ?

Original buckets/console car.