Transmission bushings-now no start

[sokoloff]

Okay, another first for me. Never heard of anyone screwing up the transmission bushing job, but yours truly did it. Replaced four bushings last week, two in the shift box that the spring in there rotates on and the two below the car on the linkage rod. No problems other than I'm slow as heck. So today with it being a beautiful top down day, I figured to take it (560SL) out for some exercise. It wouldn't start. All the indicator lights work and there is power getting to the two pin connector at the shifter lever, but there are no back up lights and nothing happens in Park, Neutral or any other gear. I obviously did something while I was doing the bushings. Can anyone point me in the right direction please? I was going to make a drawing of where everything was and how it went together, but after looking at it, I thought that it looked so simple that only an idiot could screw this up.

See photos below if they help.

Thanks.

[Chas H]

The neutral safety/reverse light switch is down there, I think. Maybe you knocked the plug loose.

[sokoloff]

Thanks Charles. That was my thought too after someone just put up another post today about changing his. I didn't know that's where it was until his post. For some reason I thought it was in the shifter. I've never had to work on one before. Got to do a little searching, see exactly where it is, what it looks like, etc., so when I crawl under there tomorrow, I'll have some clue what I'm looking for.

[Chas H]

You may have taken a pic of it in the second photo. That yellowish thing.

[sokoloff]

I came to that conclusion too after reading over a few other posts like this one - Neutral Safety Switch Location.

So does the transmission linkage rod with the bushing at each end connect to the neutral safety switch somehow? I don't recall it being attached in any way and if it was, I certainly didn't do anything to reattach it when I reinstalled the linkage rod. That could very likely be my problem I hope.

[fred1948]

In your second picture there is a black plastic pin on a lever that is attached to the neutral safety switch. That pin should be located in a hole/slot that is in the metal lever that comes out of the transmission. The link to the other thread explains the proper alignment of the switch.

It looks like the plastic pin is not engaged in the metal lever that the shift rod connects to.

[sokoloff]

Thanks guys - excellent advice. When the thing wouldn't start for me, the first thing I checked was to see whether I had back up lights when the car was in reverse. When I didn't, I figured that maybe the problem was with the neutral safety switch, but I didn't know what it looked like or where it was. I for some reason assumed it was in the shifter unit and accessible from the inside of the car. Thought that the two pin connector inside the shifter might have been it. Then when you guys pointed out where it was, what it looked like and how to fix it, it was about a ten minute job and all is well. The arrow in the photo below points to the pin that was not engaged as Fred indicated. Working on my back under the car, I never noticed that pin was even there.

Thanks!!