Well every thing is stock on the car... and i can see where some cuttin and taping had been done at one point... but i was told it does run.. like we havnt heard that before but the man is trustworthy.

I have a new starter and bat. in there... i get power to the dash and the light( notice no 's ) LOL... to work... but when i click over to crank it.. nuthin... so my next guess is that its the tumbler its self... it looks old and i can see where some thing must have crossed and one of the termenals ( cannot spell) got hot and started to melt the plastic on the back but the damage doesnt look to be fatal to the back the tumbler unit.

Its a bone stock 66 chevelle malibu ( less the starter ). trying to think if i left out any info that might be needed to help...Thank you...

Red

Well, I'm far from an expert on electrical, but can tell you the obvious - check the wiring with a meter first - see if there's a short or broken connection somewhere.

Not sure if a neutral ground switch is on a '66 - might want to verify that as well.

Yes... i checked.. i have power runnin all throughout the system... tho i havnt been able to put the tester on the starter and see if i am gettin power there when i go to crank it... thats the last thing i can think of to trouble shoot it...

You could probably use a remote start button to tell you that also - directly shorts the starter to engage. If it does engage, you may be correct about your ignition switch.

You have power when the switch is set to "on", or in the "start" position? If nothing only when in start, I'd check for that neutral switch also.

Yea i need to get one of those remote start things.. i have on at home in kali but i didnt bring any thing to NC when i moved here for the Army.. any who.. thanks man.. i jus gotta get outta Louisana first... here for a short time then i can get to tinkin with the velle.

You could probably use a remote start button to tell you that also - directly shorts the starter to engage. If it does engage, you may be correct about your ignition switch.

You have power when the switch is set to "on", or in the "start" position? If nothing only when in start, I'd check for that neutral switch also.

Just for the sake of accuracy the remote starter switch doesn't "short" anything to ground. It supplies electrical current to the "pull in" windings of the solenoid which magnetically pulls a steel "slug" towards the front of the car, which simultaneously connects two big contacts inside the solenoid together via a large copper coated steel disk attached to the "slug, thence feeding direct battery current to the starter brushes AND via the smaller contact beside the two main contacts, direct battery current to the +coil.

Via mechanical linkage connected to that steel "slug" it also drives the starter Bendix rearward into the flywheel/flexplate.

All that particular test does is eliminate the starter and the solenoid as a source of the non starting problem. Once you have established that you can start your engine via the remote starter button AND you still cannot start your car with the key you still have to check the "Neutral Saftey Switch" and the "Ignition Switch" and the wiring feeding them. :)

So you think the neutral safty switch is on the '66... because the steering column was removed before i bought it... tho it is in the trunk... but how could i reset or connent the "NSS" so i can start it... hell that could have been my whole problem the whole time.. but at least i got a new started tho.

Thank you

Might want to start a post to locate the NSS on a '66. On my floor shift car, it's right by the shifter, and runs a purple wire to it.

If GM stayed consistent on wire colors off the ignition switch, there should be a purple wire coming out of the column. I have NO idea how else to look for it (let alone fix it) on a column shift car, but no doubt someone here does.

Nowhere in your post do I see whether your 66 is a stick shift or an automatic. I will assume that its an automatic . If so then the NSS is at the base of the steering column just above the floor of the car. There should be a purple wire going into it and the same style purple wire coming out of it. That purple wire is the "S" wire that ends on the small "S" "lug" on the engine side of your solenoid.

If all of the correct wires are present you should start testing them with a 12v test light to see where power stops. With the ignition in the start position both sides of the NSS would be energized in "park " OR "neutral". In any other gear only one side of the switch would be energized with the ignition in start.

If you look at the NSS you will see that it is adjustable. There are two mounting screws that attach the switch to the steering column and the holes the screws go thru in the switch are "slotted" holes.

The way you adjust the NSS is to loosen those two screws and with the shift lever in either park or neutral you slide the switch until the engine begins to crank. At that point you tighten the screws and try the other position (park/neutral) and make sure it works there also.

You also need to select ALL other gear positions and make sure that the engine DOES NOT crank with the ignition switch in the "start" position.


If you have the stick shift, console variety, then all of the same is still true except with a stick shift, as Xtreme70SS396 pointed out, the switch would be near the shifter.

If after all that you still have no engine cranking I would unplug your "bulkhead connector" on the engine side and reconnect it. On a car that old its entirely possible that you could have a poor connection there. In fact I would test both sides of the BH connector with a test light first with the key in the start position first just to see if there is power to only the cabin side of the car before I unbolted the BH connector on the engine side. You might have to dismount the fuse box to access the cabin side of the BH connector but thats no big deal. A couple of screws as I recall.

Give all that a go and let us know what you find.

Hey.. thanks a bunch man.. i will be back in NC saturday and i will give that a shot... im bettin thats my problem... every thing looks fine under the dash... a few cut wires but nuthin that looks like i cant work with it.

Its an auto by the way... that jus slipped my mind...

So it should be possible to "cross" the wires, or what ever, and make it a complete circut all the time.. cuz i need to get the motor turned over and see what else is wrong... hoping that the motor does run and the tranny is still good... fingers crossed.

Yes you can jump across the neutral safety switch HOWEVER that will mean that your car will start regardless of which gear you have selected. That is a significant safety issue and the reason why there is an NSS in the car in the first place. Be careful :)

Yes... and thanks... i am completely aware of that... but for right now i wont even be driving the car but i do know where park is.. well i can get it in park by pushin/pullin on the shift linkage... but thanks again... cant wait to get to TRY to start it.. lol.

the NSS has a small tang that fits into the column at is made out of plastic ... when they get old & brittle they break & the NSS no longer moves becouse the tag isn't engaged with the moving part of the column.. take off the two screws .. lift up the switch & check to see if its broken ... its easier then trying to work up under the dash ... if tab is broken off .. to make contact just push the plastic to the end & it will make contact... But the car will start in gear if you do this so be CARFULL !! till you get a new switch

Yea my batt. is dead and i have to car at the moment.. lookin at a '72 maro for a daily.. jus want gm w/ a 350 is all... gettin it from a friend i hope... HOPE... tryin to go to a military loan office... i need one bad but no credit tho a good friend who owns a business told me he's co-sign if i need it... hes more like family tho... so things will be good.. but thanks again... i need to get to tryin to get it done... with another batt.