Turn the key and get nothing.

[Mopar Thunder]

Ok, I need some advice.  I must be missing something.  First,  I stopped the car and turned it off for about 5 minutes then went to start it and got nothing, no click, no cranking of the engine, nothing.  Lights work and dim some if I put them on and try to start it,  horn works.  When I turn the key the gauges all jump then go back down.  I have completed the following;

1. Checked for Loose Battery Connection - sand connections and tighten
2. Check Ignition Switch - Turn the key to the start position. Turned on the headlights and tried to start the car, the lights dimmed. I am assuming the ignition switch is fine from that.
3. Checked starter connections - good and tight
4. Neutral safety switch on shifter - made sure engaging in park.

Can it be a bad selonoid on the starter?  I can hook up 2 wires with a push button to some sort of regulator (sorry forgot the name of it) on the inner fender and start the car as long as the ignition swith is on. And the starter sounds normal. I know it is something simple that I am just having a brain fart with. I am away from home starting tomorrow for 2 days so I apologize upfront for not responding to any suggestions or ideas. Could it be the part on the fender?

[Chryco Psycho]

if you short the 2 large terminals on the start relay on the inner fender & it cranks over the starter is ok & either the relay or the ground at the NSS is bad , if the starter doesn't crank the starter is bad

[7212Mopar]

Have you try to start with transmission in neutral. Happened to me twice and then back to normal starting in park. No clues what happened. Bad safety switch?

[Strawdawg]

If the lights dim quite a bit, have the battery load tested if none of the above pan out-cause a bad cell will act like that as well

Normally you can check the battery voltage and if the cell is bad, the voltage will drop a lot when the key goes to start

[Mopar Thunder]

Chryco Psycho - Yes, I did use the starter relay to crank and start the car a few times. The car won't start in nuetral so I am asssuming that switch is good. If it had a bad cround would it still work as it is supposed to do?

7212Mopar - As above the car won't start in nuetral so I think the switch is working properly.

Strawdawg - I tested the battery and it is at 12.5 volts, seems fine.

It just happened to go bad at the wrong time. I forgot to mention I also checked all the fuses and connections and they were all fine. Since the starter relay is fairly inexpensive I should try that.

[Chryco Psycho]

First you know the starter is OK so test for power on the yellow wire the relay when the key is turned if it has power then jump the terminal with the brown wire to ground if it starts then the NSS or the plug to it is bad , if you have power & ground at the relay & it still doesn't work the relay is bad 

[Mopar Thunder]

A friend of mine had an extra relay so I tried it....no difference, still won't do a thing. I was hoping it was as simple as that.

Chryco, I'll work on it tonight or tomorrow and let you know what I find out. Thanks for all the advice.

Is it not a good idea to start the car from the relay? There is a local Mopar only show I was hoping to go to tomorrow but don't want to make things worse by starting it that way.

[Chryco Psycho]

my guess is the connection at the NSS switch on the trans is bad , it will hurt nothing to start it shorting the relay

[Jesus H Chrysler]

 

my guess is the connection at the NSS switch on the trans is bad , it will hurt nothing to start it shorting the relay

The harness to the NSS sometimes runs close to the exhaust.  I've had a couple of them melt over the years.  To test the NSS and see if the rest of your start system works get a piece of jumper wire and ground out the Tranny ground switch/Clutch pedal terminal on the starter solenoid.  You should then be able to start with the key.  If that does the trick then investigate the NSS and harness for failure.  When the NSS works the car should start both in Park and in Neutral, but not in any other gear.  Good luck!

[drewcrane]

I had this happen to me out in the middle of Black Rock desert the wrong place,

it was the large  flat connector under the dash where all ignition wiring is

.I turned the key to start ,wiggled the connector and the car would intermittently start ,

so I made the connection better with a flat blade screwdriver on the female end ,and as well as the male end  and used some die electric grease ,so it now has a good contact , give it a try

[Mopar Thunder]

Well finally got to fix the car.  It turned out to be the ignition switch. NSS was all good.  I hate electrical problems more because I am not a wiz with these types of systems.

[Chryco Psycho]