Hello everyone!

Longtime lurker finally decided to join. I been having an issue with the neutral safety switch on my 85 f250 with a 351w. It currently has a Edlebrock 1405 that I’ve had rebuilt and in the process of restoring the truck (picked it up recently). One issue I haven’t figured out is an ongoing no start. I hear the click from what I assume is coming from the starter solenoid which I’ve also replaced several times, but still no start most the time. So I’ve also replaced the neutral safety switch as well, but still the same problem. Occasionally it will start on the first try but most the time I have to pop the hood, move the neutral safety switch lever and it will eventually start. I still need to adjust the switch hoping this may help but I just assumed the switch itself would come close to where it needs to be out of the box, but perhaps that’s not the case. So has anyone adjusted one before and is it hard? Also have replaced the entire steering column due to another separate issue so I don’t think it’s the ignition switch on the steering column but maybe. But if it was in fact the neutral safety switch, why does the same issue seem to be happening with the original one and now the new one? Which leads me to believe it’s something to do with the lever that attaches to the carb. Is the spring attached supposed to be pulling the lever towards the front of the vehicle or back? Because I’ve tried both directions and still have to push the lever a few times with a stick to get it to turn over almost every time. It’s super annoying and probably something easy to fix so any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance. And glad to be here finally.

 

Welcome to FTE.

That lever on the carb has nothing to do with the NSS, it is the kick down so when you floor it the Trans know it has to down shift.

Have you tried to move the shift lever to say N to see it it starts?
The NSS should have slots where it bolts and that is how it gets adjusted. When I get home and find my books I can look up how it's done. I have manual Trans so no NSS.
Dave ----

 

Welcome to the forum. Lots of knowledgeable, helpful people present. I'm here, too.

I'm not quite sure I follow your train of thought for troubleshooting. Any time you hear a big click from the starter relay (next to the battery), that means the control circuit is good. This includes the ignition switch, Neutral Safety Switch (NSS) and all associated wiring.

Save yourself some grief and make sure your battery is fully charged. Don't rely on just the alternator. A trickle charger won't cut it, either. You'll want an automatic charger with at least a ten amp output. Making sure the battery is fully charged is a basic prerequisite for electrical troubleshooting, so please don't skip this important step.

If the problem is intermittent, and you suspect the NSS is out of adjustment, that's easy enough to check. Set the parking brake and hold your foot on the regular brake pedal, because the truck may start in gear. If you can duplicate the fault (starter won't crank), hold the key in the start position and move the shift lever around. As Dave has suggested, try neutral, too. If the starter now engages, the NSS needs to be adjusted.

Another possibility for an intermittent problem is a bad starter relay. Most aftermarket starter relays are pure, unadulterated corn-peppered crap. More details here:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...i-mean-it.html


Also, make sure the base of the starter relay is well grounded. It bolts to the inner fender, which may have been an adequate ground 30+ years ago, before corrosion set in. Make it easy on yourself and add a ground wire from the base of the starter relay to the battery's (-) post.

The linkage attached to the lever on the carb? That's the kickdown cable, as Dave has already said. This doesn't directly control the NSS, but I wonder if actuating the kickdown cable moves the shift mechanism just enough to satisfy the NSS.

 

Yep, if you hear the solenoid click, you are good on the neutral safety. What kind of battery cable terminal ends do you have at the battery?

A quick experiment is to turn the headlights on, and watch them while you try to crank it. If it clicks and they go out, you have a battery cable problem or a loose connection at the battery or a bad battery. If the headlights stay bright during the click, then the solenoid itself has a problem or the starter has a loose connection or the cable to the starter has a bad connection or the starter has a problem.

P.S. I have had crap get between the starter mounting and the starter, and cause this same intermittent problem. If you have this problem you usually will see a wisp of smoke coming from the starter area.

 

I'll toss in my experience as well. Any time I have a click but no crank issue, it means my starter bolts are loose and the starter is no longer getting a good enough ground as it grounds the casing to the block.

Full disclosure as well, I have gone through 4 NSS and currently have to start my truck in Neutral.

 

Thank you everyone! I’m happy to report the issue was resolved! I tried the headlight trick Franklin2 you mentioned and sure enough, the headlights stayed bright. So KR98664 I thought maybe you were right about aftermarket starter relay/solenoid being pure crap, and you we’re right! I ended up putting in a Motorcraft one in and then for good measure, checked all grounds and added an extra ground from the relay to the negative battery cable and hallelujah, it started! Didn’t even skip a beat. From now on I’ll make sure stop trying to save a few bucks and look for OEM replacements. Y’all are a wealth of knowledge thank you so much. I’m glad it was an easy fix.

 

Fantastic! Glad you got it sorted out.

As far as me being right, that's just a given around here. It goes without saying. There's no need to type that out. Bandwidth constraints and all that...

To help the next guy, what brand(s) had you tried before MotorCraft?