I was able to jump the starter with a wire from the positve teminal of the battery to the small connection on that little rectangular junction box before i pulled it and am still able to do so after reinstalling (which is how I've been having to start it recently). I am also able to get the starter to engage by going from the positve terminal of the battery directly into one of the female (#50) terminals on the plug going to the neutral safety switch yet I am not getting a reading on the volt meter at this plug coming from the ignition switch. I am also able to test the NSS with a volt meter and confirm that the two male #50 terminals are not making a connection with each other in Park or Neutral (or anywhere else for that matter). The starter itself turns the car over no problem when properly energized, it just isn't getting any juice to it for some reason(s).

At this point I can say with 95% certainty that the current starter is installed and functioning properly and that the NSS in the car is bad. My biggest question remains what is going on with the ignition switch? Does anyone know if a bad ignition switch can cause the NSS to fail or vice versa? I will do searches on cleaning the contacts in the ignition switch and also installing a solenoid in the system. In the meantime I will also be pulling an IS from my parts car which I know was working and testing that in the coming days.

I know it is attached at the Bell housing OK as I put it back on after removing the transmission. What/Where/How else should it be checked?

One symptom that had been leading up to this problem, which i failed to mention in my original post, was that on days when the car was getting turned on and off alot (4 and more times) in a short time period I would sometimes have to jump it, but once the system was rested for some time it would go right back to starting again on its own.

Thanks for the Help.

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peace,
Woody