I had some trouble with my ignition which turned out to be a burned ignition hot wire going into the steering column. Now with a splice it works great, but because I dropped the column trying to diagnose the problem (and fix a burnt instrument cluster bulb) I am having a lot of trouble getting the steering column realigned properly.

It will always be off just enough that the transmission will go into park but the pawl in P will not catch entirely and make ratcheting sounds as the car slides backward (bad for the pawl). After some tinkering I fixed this problem by fiddling with the four holding bolts on the column bracket. But it is still difficult to get all the way into park, as if the gearshift has been misaligned on its own. What should the movement range of the orange pointer be? Dead center on a letter, or a little to the left or right?

My biggest problem is that even if I can get the pawl to engage fully, saving me from using my failing emergency brake, the car will not start in Park. There is a position sensor, or some device (I don't know how cars do this) that keeps the car from starting when it is in gear. The sensor thinks my car is in R when the pointer is all the way on P. It has fallen into the Park detent, the pawl is engaged, but it still won't start. Very annoying. It will start in N. What is this device? How do I align the shifter properly so that this problem goes away? After roughing the shifter into P numerous times everything will be ok. But I don't want to have to do that numerous times.

Another strange thing is that whenever I try to realign the column and I think I've fixed the problem (with numerous tests, to boot), it keeps coming back (probably because during the course of driving it goes out of alignment again). So should I torque the steering column bracket holding nuts until juice comes out of them or what?

Thanks for any reply

What year car are we working on here. The safety interlock switch is located on the transmission and can be jumped out to disable. But on some cars the backup light/interlock switch are the same unit.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

Ah damn! I kept saying to myself, "remember to put the make and model, remember remember remember..." Natch

'73 Dodge Dart Swinger. I'll put it in a signature so this won't happen again

Double check your steering column re-installation first and be sure it is positioned properly. Forget at this time wether or not the tranny engages park when the lever is in park. You will adjust that in a minute. Maybe put the shift lever in NEUTRAL as you are positioning the column so the misaligned park position does not hinder movement of column to proper position. (Also loosen the toe plate bolts so it self-centers around the column, the bolt holes are WAY over size for this purpose.)

Now look under the hood at the shift rod between the steering column and the bellcrank for the linkage adjustment. On my 75-76 Valiants this is a hex head bolt. Loosen that and you can slide the rod to synchronize the transmission with the shift lever and pointer. I *think* the service manual says to put the tranny in park then move the shift lever to park and then tighten the bolt. (be sure the adjuster move freely, there may also be a spring on the rod to take up slack when adjusting) If this does not work, then I can look up the exact procedure later in my 1973 service manual.

Sounds as if your column shift is out of adjustment.

If you check the side of your transmission you will see a lever sticking out
with the linkage for your gearshift selector attached to it. I forget which
way the lever moves to get it into park (haven't had to this in almost 30
years) but put the car in drive - engine shut off - check the position of
the lever, then put the car in park and check the lever. You will now know
which way the lever moves when it goes into park.

Loosen the connection to the lever and move your gearshift selector into
park as far as it will go. Move the lever toward the park position as far
as it will go. Tighten the connection.

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Bill
Vancouver, BC

The thing that gets me is that what with the rigid mount for the steering column bracket and the indentation in the bracket for the wiring, there doesn't seem to be any other way to position the column. I'll fool around with the transmission selector linkage like you and Chrycoman suggest though. I'll let you know what happens

Thanks for your relplies

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'73 Dodge Dart Swinger 225 904

I just adjusted it as you guys said, undoing a cotter pin connecting the transmission arm to the column linkage and then aligning the two all over again with the steering column loose. Seems to have worked, feels stock now. Thanks for your help! I would have replied sooner by my tools were 90 miles away all week.