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Stacy wilson Posted on Apr 25, 2016
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Where is the neutral safety switch and how do I tell if it's bad. Motor won't crank and has a new battery and had the starter tested and its fine

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Glenn Smart

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  • Cars & Trucks Master 845 Answers
  • Posted on Apr 25, 2016
Glenn Smart
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It's also known as an 'inhibitor switch'. You haven't said what make/model of car you have, but the link below will show you generic images of the switch, which will be located on the side of the transmission:

automatic transmission inhibitor switch Google Search

Grab a flashlight and crawl under your car. Look on the side of the transmission unit. Disconnect the electrical unit and try cleaning all the contacts.

You can, if you know how, 'short out' the switch using a length of wire to bypass it. However, be aware that this can also allow the car to be started in Drive or Reverse.

Don't jump to conclusions and presume that it is the inhibitor switch. It may be a faulty sensor somewhere in the engine - the crankshaft sensor is usually the prime suspect which can cause the symptoms you describe, as can a faulty coil/ignition pack.

The best course of action would be to get someone with an OBD scanner - the handheld diagnostic machine - to connect it to your car and do a diagnostic check for you. Any error codes picked up by the OBD will identify the cause of the problem.

It is cheaper, easier and less hassle to get an OBD check done first than it is to replace parts in the hope of curing the problem.

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  • Contributor 24 Answers
  • Posted on Apr 25, 2016
Paleologos Ifantis
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Plus to the previous post it may be a bad immobilizer reader (it does not read your keyfob code while you turn the key) usual fault in early 00's ford transits...

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Related Questions:

0helpful
2answers

2002 Chevy Duramax 2500 clicks but wont crank n natural light on

Is it automatic or manual. If it's automatic try putting it in neutral and then starting it
0helpful
2answers

1999 Honda passport,no crank,battery good,starter good,fuses good.can u tell me a bypass or help?

Test Battery connections for continuity, if ok, use heavy duty test lead and connect live side of battery direct to starter motor.
If the engine cranks, the fault may lie between the ignition switch
and the starter solenoid.
0helpful
2answers

1993 Geo Prizm starter clicks & does not crank. Battery & Starter tested good & engine not seized. Could this be neutral safety switch? If so, how can I bypass or test it.

NO CRANK 101:
sure it can, but so can other things fail....
why guess, buy a $10 voltmeter and find it. no?
1: check fuse first. and if IMMO cluster light is OUT. (not immoblized by alarm)
2: if meter lost, try new starter relay, (wild guess 1:10 chances of a fix.....)
3: it can be bad wires bad, connectors, bad PRNDL switch, bad, key switch, IMMOBLIZER ACTIVE, added alarms. added remote start kits, called hacks by me.
what's there after 23 long years?
what to do....
well the steps are all easy in them selves each.
1: battery charged,fuses all test good.
2: does AAA autotow , jumper method work? jump starting car, with running other car. like all folks do, mostly, and for sure standed on the road.

3: did you hot wire the starter solenoid,"?
biggn lug to dinky lug? grrrrrgrrrrrrrrr omg the starter and battery are good. is this hard?
do so in park (wheels chocked) ok>?
the engine will not start doing this hot wire test.
a car keys in pocket SURE.

4: ok now you know for sure the stater works on the actual car. (we can bench test the too)
WORKING ON ACTUAL CAR IS IMPORTANT, TO DIAGNOSIS.
5:on this car, a Toyota Corolla in snake GM skins
we then check the voltages at the starter relay.
it has 4 pins.
2 are coil pins.
2 are power contactor pins.
we measure them cranking (a live test)
how the logic works here varies by "
a: what engine is there, unstated.
b: what trans, auto or stick>???????
c: if car was opted day one with that immoblizer.
but we can just test and let the truth win out.
lacking facts from you as to driveline actual.
Volt meter in hand, DMM set to VOLTS.
black lead of meter to battery neg post.
here are the relay pins.
the concactor relay input pin is 12vdc all the time.
it's at battery voltage .
the key switch sends 12vdc to the coil pin.
there are 4 relay pins in the drawing tell us what to expect.
pin 4 is battery voltage 12v if not, fuse blown.
as seen in the drawing.
pin 3 runs the starter solenoid (now dead)
pin 2 is grounded, 0v, cranked, if not ground bad
or IMMOBLIZER not happy, that P wire is immo
in the factory with IMMO added, the ground wire is cut, seen in the drawing.
pin 1, saving the fun for last.
i check pin 1 , yes, cranking,
11v to 12v good, if good, relay is bad.
if less than battery voltage or near 0 volts
that means the KEY Line to the relay is BAD, DEAD.
easy no?
if the line is dead, here, at pin 1,
then the clutch switch is bad, (got a stick shift)
or the PRNDL switch is bad, does it crank in Neutral> omg yes?
ok lets say pin 2 on the PRNLD switch is dead.
that means the ignition switch is bad.
but lets move on, to prove that, easy with a $10 meter, no?
at the key switch you find the ST1 pin dead. yes, cranked,
then move the red test lead to AM1 pin on key switch , its dead.
the fuse is blown or bad wring from fuse box to here.
all fuses in the drawing left side are 12vdc hot all times, both ends of fuse.
if not the fuses or wires are bad.there.















http://jeepdied.com/no-crank.html

c783db6c-8971-4432-b8e6-a0629a12577d.jpg
0helpful
2answers

Same problem with my lumina not starting changed starter and battery and still not starting

Tell me exactly what happens, does the engine crank over or not? If it does crank do you have fuel pressure? Have you run fault code tests?
0helpful
1answer

1998 Honda Accord Won't Start

Park neutral safety switch maybe be the reason for the no crank ! Try putting the vehicle in park ,then try to crank the engine . Testing the electrical circuit is the best way to trouble shoot this problem , along with do a voltage drop test on the starter circuit ! This will test the battery cables an connections .
Starter Voltage Drop
How to voltage drop test starter motor circuit
Does it have a manual or automatic transmission ? Manual ? clutch switch . Looking at a wiring diagram I also see a starter cut relay !
http://www.bbbind.com/free_tsb.html Free wiring diagrams . Enter vehicle info. year , make , model and engine size . Under system click engine , under subsystem click starting . Then click the search button , then click the blue link ! Check the starter cut relay also . Videos on youtube showing how to test a relay controlled circuit !

0helpful
1answer

The car won"t crank, 1992 Volkswagon Passat

If the switch (neutral safety switch) is broken, it will not crank regardless whether you jump the battery or a new battery is installed. I don't have specific manual for your year that's why my advice is as in general. With a remote starter tool, bypassing the solenoid wire with remote starter which is connected to the positive terminal of the battery of it's other end. Once positive current flows from the battery, through the remote switch, flowing towards the solenoid, the starter should engage indicating a bad wiring harness connection from ignition switch. If it doesn't crank at all you may have a bad starter assembly and needs replacing. If your starter is clicking using it's own battery power, your battery is low of charge or your charging system is malfunctioning.

Pls, rate this suggestion, thank you.

0helpful
1answer

New starter.new battery.all electrical works lights,gauges,radio,wipers etc but van wont start.no cranking sound just slight click uinder washer reservoir behind battery

there is not just one thing that can cause this problem. it could be in the ignition switch, it could be the wiring from switch to starter relay, could be the neutral safety switch. i can tell you a quick and dirty way to test this, have to be careful if you do it. put the vehicle in park, make sure it's in park, otherwise it will roll when you do this and you could get run over by your own vehicle. now you will need a set of jumper cables. make sure you can get to the hot side terminal of starter, one jumper cable contact has to go there. the other side has to go to hot (positive) side of battery. if when you tap the jumper cable to the hot side of starter the starter cranks just like it should then you have a wiring problem. if that's the result you get try jiggling the gear selector around and cranking ignition, or try starting it in neutral. if that makes a difference, if it cranks in neutral or if you move gear selector around when it's in park, then you probably have a bad neutral safety switch. if that doesn't make a difference but you are able to get it to crank by jumping straight from battery to starter then you have a wiring problem in ignition system. hope that helps
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