420 SEL will not start, does not crank
 

1990 420 SEL (Automatic) will not start, does not crank at all either.
I put it in neutral and tried to start it, it works. I was able to start it from Park without a problem for the next few days.

Then it would'nt start again, I'll put in neutral and allow it to roll a bit, then put it back in park and start, it works.

since yesterday the car doesn't start at all, whatever I do does'nt seem to work, could it be the starter or the crank.

Battery is good, gas pump is good, checked all the fuses. I'm just stuck.

would appreciate any help or tips.

Thanks

Sarjoun

Neutral safety switch
 

Sounds like the neutral safety switch. This switch prevents the engine from starting in any gear other than Park or Neutral.

When they fail, you get two symptoms: 1)Car doesn't make a noise when you try to crank it. Eveything lights up, but the car won't crank. You shouldn't hear the engine turn over at all. 2)Car only starts in Neutral but won't start in Park.

Note that #2 doens't always apply. In my case, I didn't think it was the NSS at first, since it wouldn't start in Park OR Neutral. Turned out to be the switch anyhow.

It's on the transmission. Try tapping it while someone cranks the engine to see if it starts to crank. You can also bridge the connections and bypass it temporarily.

Neal

Thanks for the tip Neal, but where would I find the neutral safety switch.

Thanks
Sarjoun

I'm going from memory here but I'll try....

It's on the transmission and has four or five coming out of it. I believe it's on the side of the transmission.. perhaps you can do a search on this site -- I'm sure there is a post describing it.

It should look something like this:

http://images.andale.com/f2/104/120/...289_102f_1.JPG

Neal