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Neutral Safety switch is reversed

swatman260

swatman260

Member
I have an American Shifter, transmission mounted shifter on a TH350 (think Lokar style shifter, as they seem identical). The shifter has a roller ball style neutral safety switch mounted onto it. My problem is that it does the exact opposite of what I need. As in, I can start the car in every gear, but not in Park or Neutral. I currently have the ignition switch wire (GM purple) running throught this switch. Is there any simple way to reverse the operation of this type switch without purchasing another switch? I just hate the thought of replacing the switch if I don't have to, because its pretty much burried inside the floor/tranny tunnel.
 
Makes no sense. Call American Shifter and see what they say. If you need to reverse the operation, I can show you how to do it with a relay so you don't have to dig into the shifter.
 
PotvinGuy, I somehow knew you'd be able to help me. I actually called them last evening, and even inquired as to the possibility of purchasing a reversed switch, and didn't get much help. Their tech guy did rattle off how-to wire in a relay to do the job, but I didn't understand anything he was saying and he made it seem like I was inconveniencing him...so I thought i'd ask you guys. I'm still baffled as to why the switch is acting as it is, unless they just sent the wrong switch by mistake (which he denied)
 
How new is the shifter? Sounds like they got a wrong switch, or even a wrong batch, and don't know it yet. Give me a few hours to sort this and I'll get back to you,
 
Thats the same switch I have (in theory) but that's not the same mount as for what I'm talking about. I have the switch you listed above that I'm using as the reverse light switch with the single arm. The neutral safety switch is actually mounted up on the shifter tower, and seems to react to ridges that are on the shift lever itself. As far as I can tell, without pulling the engine and tranny again, I can't see a way to change out that part.
 
Ah, like this:
American%252520Shifter-page-001.jpg

Can you reach the switch from the top by removing the boot?
 
Yes, just like that!!! I can "touch" the switch from both the top and the bottom, but there would be no way for me to take the shifter mechanism apart without pulling the engine and transmission out of the car. My bottom of my floor is basically level with the pivot point of the shifter assembly.. So I could take the switch itself out from the bottom, but I wouldn't be able to do much else in there.
 
I'm curious if the switch is wrong or if the shifter mechanicals are messed up. But the symptoms sure sound like a wrong switch (wouldn't be the first time a speed shop screwed up). And if it is, you'd have to return it and get a replacement. If you want, I'll just show you the relay fix and we can leave the shifter alone. Your choice.
 
PotvinGuy, if you could explain the relay to me (and pretend I'm pretty dumb) it will at least get me through the immediate issue. I'm afraid getting the switch replaced may be challenging because they don't seem very helpful. I'm trying to source a replacement.
 
Here's the wiring and an explanation of the terminals on a typical auto relay:
relay%252520safety.jpg
RelayWiringGuide.jpg


Your backwards safety switch is open in N or P (when it should be closed). This leaves the relay without power and the purple wires will be connected thru terminals 30 and 87A (called the normally closed, or NC, terminal) so you can start the car. When you shift into gear, the switch will close and energize the relay, which will disconnect the purple wires and the starter, so it can't be started in gear. The relay just reverses the logic of the safety switch. Shame on American Shifter; they obviously don't do any quality checks on their parts. And if it was me, I would have grabbed a switch from stock, tested it and mailed it to you ASAP with my apologies. In a perfect world...

Can't resist: I caught a company once with a bin of fuel filters with the wrong threads. And they kept sending me replacements from the same bin!

If you have a prewired connector for the relay the wire colors are not standardized, so ignore them. Just make sure you use terminal 87A, not 87, or you'll be back to square one!

The two wires on the safety switch can go to either terminal on it. I'd use an always hot source for the +.

Let us know how it turns out.
 
PotvinGuy to the rescue again!!! He has helped me a bunch when I replaced all my wiring.
 
swatman got an incorrect switch on his shifter that is open when it should be closed and vice-versa. And it would be a pain to replace so we're going to use a relay to correct the action.
 
Yeah. I'm also still working on getting the company to replace the malfunctioning switch with the correct one, but haven't gotten very far with them yet.
 
Cheap chinese crap. I bought a bunch of Hella relays off ebay along time ago. Turned out they were all knock offs and are all wired backwards too.
 
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