442dale

Hello Guys,
I am finally putting together my 1970 442 Pace Car Convertible (10 year complete restoration) and am almost ready to start the rebuilt engine. I replaced the Dual Gate Shifter with a new unit (Parts Place) and removed and relocated the Neutral Safety Switch onto the new shifter unit.
The engine will only crank when the shifter is in neutral and won't crank in Park.
Any ideas?

redoldsman

Switch probably needs adjusting.

no1oldsfan

Exactly. That is a switch issue

442dale

I assumed that it was a switch adjustment but there is only about 1/4' of adjustment and that didn't work.
Moving it side to side over to one end stopped it from starting in Neutral so it seems it likes only one spot.
But nothing happens in Park.

joe_padavano

Did you verify that the switch makes contact in the PARK position? This could be an adjustment problem or it could be a bad switch. Why did you replace the original dual gate with an aftermarket one, which may or may not be manufactured correctly? Are you sure the cable is properly adjusted?

Koda

Put in park, twist barrel of steering column to max left, see if it cranks. If so, it is not the switch.

442dale

Already tried moving the column all the way to the lockout position with the same result.
Joe - Is there a cable adjustment procedure that I should have followed?

It was 10 years ago that I tore everything down and the car did start in Park so I'm not thinking it is a bad switch.

It is a new cable as well as a new shifter unit.

oldcutlass

If the switch is on the shifter, how does moving the column play into this. As Joe said, it may be a bad switch or an adjustment since it does start in neutral.

Koda

Same way it does for the ones on the column.

442dale

The culprit was a very slight difference in the new shifter unit in relation to the available adjustment of the Neutral Safety Switch. When I proved that theory out, I just needed to elongate the two holes so it would move back just a bit more and make contact inside the switch when in Park.

Thanks for everybody's replies.

oldcutlass

Well done, glad you got it adjusted.