Am having an issue starting my truck where it almost always starts when the truck is only in neutral, not in Park. I was told that that is a common issue when the neutral safety switch goes bad. So I replaced it this morning. Go to start the truck in Park, nothing. Drop it to neutral, starts right up. Shift through the gears, and everything shifts fine. Restart the truck and it starts up in Park. I shut it off and restart it, nothing. Drop it to neutral, starts right up.

I tried a couple more times, with the same result. I made sure that the neutral lines were perfectly aligned when I installed the new switch. Any suggestions as to what the issue might be? Thanks.

 

Is there excessive play or slop in the shift lever mechanism?

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ you beat me to it projectSHO89....

 

mine did the same thing. replaced the shift tube in the column and no more problems.

 

there are 2 torx bolts that hold the shifter to the column, they loosen up over time... I would check those out

 

Yeah, I would say there is some play in the shifter. Sometimes the indicator in the cluster doesn't line up perfectly, and I can adjust that by pushing gently up or down on the shifter, so I guess that would qualify as play.

I double checked the connection on the sensor and it wasn't loose. Maybe also inspect the wiring under the truck for any shorts if the torx bolts don't solve the problem? I'd like to troubleshoot as much as possible before spending anymore money on replacement parts.

 

yep i would check your wiring/connections and the torx bolts and go from there...

 

Sweet, thanks for the help! Heading back to school today, so I'll give it a look when I get up there and post back.

 

Took the cover off my steering column, and tightened those Torx bolts, still some play and no solution. I haven't had time to check the wiring under the truck leading to the neutral safety switch yet, but I noticed some stuff about the wiring while the fuse panel was off.


These wires were exposed for some reason. Not sure what they're for, but I covered them with electrical tape.



These ones were just plain cut. one had a little tape pinched over the end. Not sure what those are for.

But if the wiring under the truck tests out alright, would the next step be to replace the shift tube? if so, what do those run?

 

those 4 "cut" wires are pass through wires that were put in so if you want to add something you did not have to drill holes in the firewall. if you look in the engine bay where the wiring harness comes out under the master cylinder, you will see the same 4 wires ending there.

 

Check this video out might help:

 

Thanks, Coastie!
I checked the wiring under the truck going to the neutral safety switch. No visible damage or corrosion. So my next step should be replacing that shift column now?

 

Well there are several other things you might check that are associated with this first. The two torx head bolts on the armature that the cable connects to. If you find them loose it may be as simple a fix as tightening them. Be careful like the video says these are threaded into aluminum. The mechanic in the video says he just goes by "feel". I don't trust my "feel". The Ford factory service manual for my 2001 F250 says (12 lb/ft) on these bolts, I'd assume it is the same for your 2000. I think you said you checked them already, but this is the easiest fix. Now, it could be the cable itself. When I was trying to figure my issue out I had a mechanic tell me that the cable can "stretch" and that his was doing the same thing and he just replaced his cable and it fixed it for him. It could possibly need replacement, but truthfully, I'm not sure about the cable stretching. But I thought I'd share all of what I've been told. If you have a lot of slop in your shifter, I'd just replace the shift tube assembly. Note in the video the mechanic replaced the shifter, but that only because the OD switch was also bad. You should not have to replace this unless your is a problem. Ed the Parts Guy (Horizon Ford) has what you'll need at great prices heres a link your parts 2000 FORD F-250 SUPER DUTY Parts - WWW.HORIZONPARTSGUY.COM

Best of luck

 

The bolts that need to be tightened are not under the steering column cover. The bolts you need are near the floor. To find them lay on your back looking up at the column.

 

Ahh, thanks Mark. I misunderstood what you were describing. I'll check that next.

Coastie, thanks for the resources! If tightening those torx bolts isn't the solution, I'll try the cable and go from there.