Starter or Neutral Safety switch (1 Viewer)

[Romer]

Inspected the connector at the tranny and it looked good, no broken wires

I then removed the connector and saw a bunch of crap in the contacts.

I sprayed degereaser on it and took a wire brush and then brake clean on it and the contacts mounted on the tranny.

Wiped it all up and she started right up vs wouldn't before I tried the connector

Lets hope thats it. Didn't have a small file that could get down inside the contacts, got the top and probably a little bit inside with the brush plus cleaning the male part from the tranny

I am confused as to why it started before when I tapped the starter other than the slight mechanical movement at the connector caused by pounding the starter

 

[TOY350]

Looks nasty Ken. Did you pull on all the wires that feed that connector to make sure they were not corroded through? I understand you questioning why it would start after hitting the starter, my wire was broken and sometimes it would start and sometimes not. Mostly would fail when hot but the one time it did it first thing in the morning I knew heat soak wasn't the main issue.

You can pull each individual wire out of the connector and give it a good cleaning, something like a small screwdriver and pressing a tab to get it out. I would highly recommend you do that, you would be able to inspect each wire that way as well.

 

[96r50]

You can pull each individual wire out of the connector and give it a good cleaning, something like a small screwdriver and pressing a tab to get it out. I would highly recommend you do that, you would be able to inspect each wire that way as well.

x2. My connector looked pretty clean in comparison to yours, but the two starter circuit connectors were both badly corroded.

 

[TOY350]

The concern is the 2 big wires, I believe the other wires just send a signal to your instrument cluster to light up what gear you are in.

 

[Romer]

The concern is the 2 big wires, I believe the other wires just send a signal to your instrument cluster to light up what gear you are in.

Thanks,
I'll do that and you should have said "I told you so"

 

[TrickyT]

Inspected the connector at the tranny and it looked good, no broken wires

I then removed the connector and saw a bunch of crap in the contacts.

I sprayed degereaser on it and took a wire brush and then brake clean on it and the contacts mounted on the tranny.

Wiped it all up and she started right up vs wouldn't before I tried the connector

Lets hope thats it. Didn't have a small file that could get down inside the contacts, got the top and probably a little bit inside with the brush plus cleaning the male part from the tranny

I am confused as to why it started before when I tapped the starter other than the slight mechanical movement at the connector caused by pounding the starter

That connector looks disgusting, Ken. It's also looks like part of the plastic housing is broken, near your index finger in the photo. This could let water and road gunk inside the connector and cause the mess you found. So if you don't want problems in the future, you should replace the housing so that it's water tight again.

It takes a fair amount of current to energize the starter solenoid. I'd guess something like 10 or 20 amps when everything is working well, and maybe double that if you've got a sticky solenoid. (The starter solenoid circuit uses a 50A fuse.) Not only does the solenoid act as a relay for the starter, but it also moves the starter gear into the flywheel. Corroded connectors exhibit high resistance and hence can't deliver high current at 12v to the solenoid like clean connectors do. So when your truck wouldn't start, you were probably starving your solenoid for power and it didn't have enough to engage, especially if it was a little sticky. Whacking it with a hammer caused it to be just less sticky enough that the available power could energize it. Replacing the starter cleared up the sticky solenoid problem, but over time the NSS connectors corroded more and more and eventually there wasn't enough power to even energize a new solenoid. So the penultimate fix was to clean/replaced the corroded connectors in the NSS.

I see from the EWD that in addition to energizing the starter solenoid, the same power lead also goes to the ECU and the bulb check relay inside the combination meter. So it may be possible to diagnosis a NSS problem from inside the cab by monitoring lights in the combo meter. I'll check this out when I get home tonight and post a followup on what I find.

 

[TOY350]

Thanks,
I'll do that and you should have said "I told you so"

I'm not a finger pointer Ken, just glad you found the culprit

 

[TrickyT]

I confirmed that the A/T Oil Temp, Brake, and Oil Level lamps only come on when the ignition switch is in the start position and the NSS is in park or neutral. If the NSS switch is bad or disconnected, these lamps do no light up (and, of course, the starter solenoid does not get energized). It would have been interesting to see if these lamps were coming on back when you were having your problems, Ken. If they weren't, it would have definitely pointed to a problem other than the starter.

 

[Romer]

I confirmed that the A/T Oil Temp, Brake, and Oil Level lamps only come on when the ignition switch is in the start position and the NSS is in park or neutral. If the NSS switch is bad or disconnected, these lamps do no light up (and, of course, the starter solenoid does not get energized). It would have been interesting to see if these lamps were coming on back when you were having your problems, Ken. If they weren't, it would have definitely pointed to a problem other than the starter.

Good data Tom and I am sure it will help someone else in the future. Kind of why I put all the links in one thread. Thanks for checking on that

 

[Romer]

well the cleaning didn't last very long. Worked a few days in the city. We went wheeling up to Red Cone and it failed twice on the trail. All I had to do was climb under and wiggle the connector while she started it. I was hoping to get another week at least so I could call my favorite parts guy Bill errrr Dan

Looks like I'll be relacing the entire connnector and wires so I can be done.

You guys who did that, I haven't looked, but is there a tie you can cut to get some extra slack? Soldering above my face is not something I want to do.

 

[raydouble]

You guys who did that, I haven't looked, but is there a tie you can cut to get some extra slack? Soldering above my face is not something I want to do.

I don't know about extra from underneath.......
Bet you could pull off shifter console and pull it up into the truck for the solder job. Maybe???

 

[GeoRoss]

MaddBaggins had an equally disgusting connector which gave him no cluster gear indicator lights, no back up lights and wonky trailer lights. Tried a new NSS and cleaning the mating connector. Worked for a few days or weeks then failed again.

IIRC the wiring harness that goes from the NSS to the engine bay is not a single wire harness, but part of the complete engine harness. But for what ever reason it ended up easier to make his own new wiring harness with aftermarket waterproof connectors.

Someone like Dan will have the real scoop.

 

[Romer]

wondering with all that corosion If the part in the tranny should be replaced as well.

 

[TOY350]

I used butt connectors with wires cut at different lengths. Not as good as soldering but hasn't failed my once in over a year.

 

[96r50]

I was able to bring the harness back over the top of the transmission so it was hanging down on the driver's side between the transmission and the frame rail.

 

[Romer]

I was able to bring the harness back over the top of the transmission so it was hanging down on the driver's side between the transmission and the frame rail.

Thanks for the suggestion, that gave me enough room to work and solder the new wire.

Pulled on the wires and they seemed fine. Took the connector off and slid out the white retainer clip and pulled on the power wire and it fell apart. It was broken inside.

Just replaced that wire right there from the one I removed from a donor cable, soldered the wire, and put it back. The other wire looked good.

Thanks. Due to other folks past history I was able to easily do this.

 

[BrettinSanAntonio]

Ken, I'm having the exact same issues. Where is that wire connection on the tranny? On top?

Inspected the connector at the tranny and it looked good, no broken wires

I then removed the connector and saw a bunch of crap in the contacts.

I sprayed degereaser on it and took a wire brush and then brake clean on it and the contacts mounted on the tranny.

Wiped it all up and she started right up vs wouldn't before I tried the connector

Lets hope thats it. Didn't have a small file that could get down inside the contacts, got the top and probably a little bit inside with the brush plus cleaning the male part from the tranny

I am confused as to why it started before when I tapped the starter other than the slight mechanical movement at the connector caused by pounding the starter

 

[Romer]

Ken, I'm having the exact same issues. Where is that wire connection on the tranny? On top?

Near the top of the tranny on the passenger side.

Also, the wire that looked fine went a few weeks later. It also disentegrated in my hand when I took it out. Lesson is to replace both wires while your in there. After replacing the wires, no further issues.

 

[BrettinSanAntonio]

Near the top of the tranny on the passenger side.

Also, the wire that looked fine went a few weeks later. It also disentegrated in my hand when I took it out. Lesson is to replace both wires while your in there. After replacing the wires, no further issues.

Is it best to approach from under the vehicle or should I remove the console?

 

[Romer]

Under the vehicle is how I did it. You cant see it, have to feel for it. I think it was above the linkage