The Dodge Challenger Message Board

I am having the same problem as alot of people here have had, with my starter not cranking but can jump it at the relay. after reading the old posts, I have decided it must be either- bad wiring at bulk head - neutral safety swith - ignition switch.

I have removed the bulk head connections checked and cleaned, is there anyway to check the neutral swicth?? What about the ignition switch? that would be easy to replace (but how often is that really the problem?)

Oh, to make things more confusing. when I was under the dash messing with wires my horn went off!

Any advice?

mo-is-beta wrote:I am having the same problem as alot of people here have had, with my starter not cranking but can jump it at the relay. after reading the old posts, I have decided it must be either- bad wiring at bulk head - neutral safety swith - ignition switch.

I have removed the bulk head connections checked and cleaned, is there anyway to check the neutral swicth?? What about the ignition switch? that would be easy to replace (but how often is that really the problem?)

Oh, to make things more confusing. when I was under the dash messing with wires my horn went off!

Any advice?

check your neutral safety switch, connections on the trans and follow the wire, however, since you were under the dash i would start there , the horn is always hot, i dont want to scare you but i had the wires chaffe, and scrape inside the steering colume,and did catch on fire, (i luckly had a fire extinguisher installed in the car as everyone should i have seen to many challys go down with this problem put a fire extinguisher in your car now and you may thank me later!!!!!!!!!!!!!)the ignition switch is below the horn but all the wires go down in the same area there is a metal plate on the bottom of the colume, remove that and carefully look at those wires, (battery disconnected of course), you will have to pull the steering wheel off, with a puller,to get to the ignition, dave might have a diagram but your symptoms are similar to mine, so be careful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes i do have a fire extingisher, couple years ago two wires melted together and I could shut the car off without unhooking the battery. thats when I decided I should have one under my seat at all times.

Does the neutral switch itself fail or is it usually just the wiring. I will check the wires from the steering wheel down as you suggested.

More likely the wiring as it comes through the bulkhead connector to the start relay. I think there is another connector along the way too.

mo-is-beta wrote:yes i do have a fire extingisher, couple years ago two wires melted together and I could shut the car off without unhooking the battery. thats when I decided I should have one under my seat at all times.

Does the neutral switch itself fail or is it usually just the wiring. I will check the wires from the steering wheel down as you suggested.

lf you pull the steering wheel if thats you r problem , you eill see a plastic disc with wires riveted in to this disc, this is where mine failed ti broke after 35 years ans the always hot wires touched and hence a fire, that is one area, the neutral safety wire can get clost to exhaust, or frame and get cut, also the connector to the switch the wires get brittle there too!they have replacemntes for this, good luck glad you have a fire extinguisher!!!!!!!!

and yes the switches fail too i forgot to add that, but also like dave said check your starter relay, and the ground to the engine too!

Have someone turn the key to start, and see if you get 12 volts at the yellow wire on the starter relay. If you do, then your ignition switch and related wiring is probably okay. If you don't, then you have an issue with either the wiring or the ignition switch.

Next step, jumper a wire from the negative on the battery to the brown wire on the starter relay, (i.e. - neutral safety switch). This effectively bypasses the neutral safety switch. Make sure the car is in park or neutral, because it will now start in gear. Try the ignition again, if it cranks from in the car, something is awry with your neutral safety switch.

Good luck.

- rich

Fix it! (knock on wood)
I did ground the brown wire from the starter relay, and it would crank. followed wires down and found a bad connection on the pins at the switch, looked and felt fine intill I remove it and found an old fix somebody had done years back.

When searching under dash, I found that the horn wire had been spliced and was coming loose, so that was an easy fix.

Thanks for all the help, this place rocks!!

mo-is-beta wrote:Fix it! (knock on wood)
I did ground the brown wire from the starter relay, and it would crank. followed wires down and found a bad connection on the pins at the switch, looked and felt fine intill I remove it and found an old fix somebody had done years back.

When searching under dash, I found that the horn wire had been spliced and was coming loose, so that was an easy fix.

Thanks for all the help, this place rocks!!

nice and no fires!

NICE