I had to replace the gear indicator in my 1974 Ford F100... I took off the steering wheel and the collar, put it all back together and when I now turn the key ... nothing. Any ideas? It's an automatic.

 

It's probably the neutral safety switch being out of adjustment. On the '74, it's mounted on the steering column, up under the dash near the firewall.

 

The switch itself looks like this and screws onto the outside of the column:



And there's also a little lever that clips onto the shifter tube in the column to actuate the switch:



The switch itself is adjustable - the mounting holes are slotted so you can line it up properly with P/N for starting (and R for lights), by following the procedure here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/4...ml#post2922591

Or if the little lever fell out of place or broke, they are reproduced - part # 21 here: http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fc/full.aspx?Page=44

I'm actually about to throw mine up on eBay - in the middle of switching to an AOD, which has a transmission-mounted switch that I'm using instead. The switch is pricey, but the lever isn't expensive enough to worry about, so if you broke/lost yours, I could send it for shipping cost. More likely, it just slipped out of adjustment though.

 

Thank you, will check that out... If that was it would I still be able to start in neutral?

 

Probably not, but maybe ... depends on how far out of adjustment it is. It's possible that it could be just far enough out that P doesn't work but N does.

If you can wiggle your shifter to a different position and get it to crank (even in R, D, in between gears, etc.), then it's definitely that adjustment. Make sure you've got your foot on the brake if you try that!

 

I agree with bkaul, that's likely your problem.. I hate fiddling with that thing because its in a hard place to reach under the dash but keep it up and you'll have it going again

 

Could the neutral safety switch come lose even though I didn't work in that lower column area?

 

They can go bad by just looking at them wrong! You wouldn't believe me if I told you they are $109 new either.