240 ignition problem

[Justinb83]

Hi folks,
Well I have been stumped and wanted to see if I can get some direction from anyone here. I have a 91 240 that, a few weeks ago stopped shifting out of park. (Automatic) At that point it would still start though. That day I messed with the emergency shift release and couldn't get it to shift. The next day the car wouldn't start or shift out of park. The battery is fine, I've replaced the ignition switch today, the diagnostic unit doesn't give me any bad codes for the ignition and I'm at a loss. Any help or recomendations for the next step would be awesome! Thanks

[rgk]

Are you saying the gear shift selector is not moving out of Park?

Your neutral safety switch is likely causing the no-start condition. It's likely that one of the philips screws holding it in place came out, fell down into the gear selector box, and got jammed somewhere against the gear selector. Missing a screw and constantly being moved around, the switch is probably now not in its proper place, which would explain why the car isn't starting.

Try removing the trim (or at best, moving it out of the way) and looking around with a flashlight to see if anything (such as a small philips screw) is obstructing the gear selector's movement. Also check to see if the neutral safety switch is screwed in, connected, grounded, clean, and operating properly. It should either engage or disengage (i forget which one) only in Park and Neutral.