Neutral Safety Switch One More Time

[mikester]

I know. Ive asked about this before. Ive gotten answers and even a solution. Problem is Im thick and I hate giving up on something.
So I bought a relay kit from Painless. Part # 60122 .Sitting in my garage on the bench. Somethings bugging me though. When I bought the 81 it had a column shift. Everything worked. Now I put in a column for a floor shifter so the neutral safety switch that was on the bottom of the column is no longer in the car. The plug for the neutral safety has only 2 wires. Orange and black. Car turns over with the wires open. Car still turns over with the two wires joined together with a jumper wire. This is really making me wonder why. Ive asked around and everyone says the two wires didnt go to the ECM. The earlier years didnt have an ECM correct ?
So where do those wires end up ? Fuse block ? Its buried up under the dash. Looks like it just disappears into the harness. If it worked before Im thinking I missed something when I put the harness back in. Maybe when I put the fuse block back in I didnt have something lined up right ?
Ive got some time to dwell on this crap. I havent been able to walk much since last week. My left knees been killing me. Going for two MRIs in about an hour. The doc thinks I tore the meniscus in the left knee. Ive already had the surgery on my right. You all know what happens when you have too much time on your hands right ?

 

[oldsmobile joe]

One more time, those wires are not for a neutral safety switch, they are for the computer. The computer uses it as part of its operating system. It has nothing to do with starting or even cranking the engine, as you can attest to.
Here two pics from an 85 olds cutlass factory electrical manual.
This one shows the starting system, there is NO neutral safety switch.

And here is a pic showing your orange and black wires. Orange wire is coming from the computer and going to the gear selector switch (park/neutral switch) located at botton of column. The black wire goes to ground.

These wire are not thick enough to handle the electrical load of a starter solenoid and are not part of the starter circuit.

 

[oldsmobile joe]

if you are no longer running a computer, tape this connector off and stop worrying about it.
if you are using a computer and want to use this wire, swap the switch from your old column to the current column.
if your vehicle doesn't start, its not caused by this. give us more details and we will help you.

 

[mikester]

if you are no longer running a computer, tape this connector off and stop worrying about it.
if you are using a computer and want to use this wire, swap the switch from your old column to the current column.
if your vehicle doesn't start, its not caused by this. give us more details and we will help you.

Isnt this the plug for the neutral safety ?
I deleted the ECM when I put the motor back in. I also have no switch on the column and wont have a need for one since Im using a B&M ratchet shifter in a Monte SS console. I assumed if I hooked the two wires to the micro switch on the shifter it would work the same way as it did with the switch on the column.

 

[Drkuhar]

There is no electrical neutral safety switch. It is a mechanical interlock that if the column isn't in the right location the key will not turn to the start area of the switch

 

[Drkuhar]

That's why people say when installing aftermarket floor shifter to leave the linkage hooked up to turn the mechanical part in the column if you want factory neutral safety action.

 

[mikester]

That's why people say when installing aftermarket floor shifter to leave the linkage hooked up to turn the mechanical part in the column if you want factory neutral safety action.

So to use that wire I would have to have the original column that was set up for a column shifter ? Where the part of the column rotates when you put it in park ?
If theres only two wires connected to the switch on the column arent they either open or closed ?

 

[69hurstolds]

Here's something to explain the Park/Neutral start system that G-bodies use. It's mechanical lock out type of system. This is why it's important you know how it works when people just yank out the backdrive linkage on console cars or if it gets misadjusted. This is out of the 84 Olds CSM. Also it shows how to adjust the park/neutral/backup switch on top of the lower section of the column.

 

[Drkuhar]

That brown/black wire has nothing to do with the actual neutral safety. On Our columns the part that rotates weather column shift or floor shift has a mechanical part that stops the key from going all the way to the start position unless in the park or neutral location. Factory floor shift cars still have linkage hooked to the column for this reason. To rotate the interlock.

 

[Drkuhar]

If you don't have the linkage that goes from the transmission to the column, you will not have a working neutral safety without cutting the purple wire and adding and electrical switch