Shifter/Starting Issue?

Asked by TouchySilverado Aug 07, 2016 at 04:20 PM about the 1985 Chevrolet C/K 10 Silverado RWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My 1985 Silverado with automatic trans will not start unless I can find the perfect sweet spot in the gear shifter's range of motion.   If I just put it in park or neutral like you normally would it will not start.  Turn the key and nothing at all, no clicks, the choke light on the dash does not come on, nothing.  Now if I fiddle with the gear shifter for about ten or fifteen minutes popping it in between all the gears and finding just the perfect spot somewhere near "park," it will crank like a champ.  The choke light will come on and it acts totally normal.   If I were to bump the shifter out of that fragile perfect position it won't crank at all. What's going on with this ol' girl?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

3 Answers

41,795

Check or replace the neutral safety switch..The gate prevents the ignition cylinder from rotating on certain columns unless it's in park or Neutral. On other models it's an adjustment on the nss. Are you saying in park the cylinder will not rotate to the full crank position?

The cylinder will rotate, but it does nothing. It does seem a bit stiff turning when it's not in its sweet spot though.

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