I have a 1973 Cutlass S automatic that I am working on. I have removed the center console and the front seats. Now the car will not crank over. I see the passenger seat has a electrical connection on it which is unhooked because I removed seats also the electrical connections on the console is unhooked. Would any of these keep the car from turning over?

 

Is the shifter in the console? If so the wires may be part of the circuit that includes the neutral safety switch. Just a thought.

 

You probably disconnected the neutral safety switch harness. Put a jumper across the connector and it should crank

 

Are there 2 purple wires terminated on a single connector that were disconnected?

 

Yes shifter is in console. I thought it might be something like that. Would you happen to know what the electrical connection on the passenger seat is for?

 

Seat belt warning. If no one is sitting there the warning would not sound if belt wasn't buckled? Or air bag circuit?

 

The neutral safety switch on a 1973 Olds is at the base of the column. There is no starter circuit wiring in the console. The backdrive linkage from the trans to the steering column operates this switch. If you have disconnected the backdrive linkage, you have disabled the NSS. Look at the base of the steering column under the dash. Remove the two wire connector with purple wires from the switch and jumper across them. If the car starts, you've found the problem.

 

If the console is out, is it possible the shifter is not fully in park?

 

Thanks everyone for your help. I have figured out the problem. The person before me had some gauges in it and I removed them when removing the console. One of the gauges was an amp gauge the he had spliced into the main power supply wire. With the gauge being disconnected I had no power to anything. I hooked gauge back up and everything is OK. Again thanks
everyone.

 

Glad you got it figured out, but the message there is that when asking a question, we don't know about any non-stock mods done to the car unless you tell us about them.

 

You are right. I should have paid more attention to what I had done before I asked for help. Again thanks for your time in trying to help me. But at least I figured it out. Joe I did learn some good information from the replies that I could use in the future.

 

You don't want the cars electrical system flowing through the ammeter. I'd wire it like this:

 

Or just replace the ammeter with a good volt meter.

 

That's what I am going to do. Voltmeter is safer than amp gauge. I know amp gauge is better for troubleshooting purposes, but would rather be safe with my pride and joy.