Does "nothing, zilch, at all" mean the starter is not turning or it's turning and not starting. The NSS simply inturrupts the voltage from the ignition "sol" terminal to the purple wire on the starter unless in neutral or park. The NSS switch also has 2 terminals for the backup lights which usually have green wires on them. If the starter is not turning, try jumpering the purple wire and the other wire next to it (sometimes purple and sometimes blue) on the NSS together, to see if the NSS is bad.

 

Don, total silence when I turn the key. Don't understand what "sol" means unless you speaking of my lack of luck.:sign0020:.I'll put a jumper wire between the purple and blue wire while hooked to the NSS and see what happens. When we yanked out the old engine I didn't see how the old starter was wired. The friend that was helping is a retired electrician from the ship yards and he put the blue wire with the positive battery wire to the top terminal. The purple one is on the side terminal. I've looked for a new NSS but all I can find are ones for 57 Chevy's. Danny

 

A caution!
B4 you hook the 2 wires together, BE SURE the trans is in park!
If you have had the N/S switch off, did you insert the pin to set the tang in the correct location, b4 you installed it?
It looks to me as tho the column is waay off location. If it is, there's no way the shifter tube tang would engage the n/s switch...

 

It looks to me as tho the column is way off location. If it is, there's no way the shifter tube tang would engage the n/s switch...

Agree OB.....Looks way too CCW on the column to me....Good eye on spotting that :tu

 

If you don't have a shop manual for the 55s, go here.
It's everything you could need (well, mostly) to know about your 55.
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1955/index.html

The cool things about the online or digital copies of the manuals is you can enlarge the images to see them better.
And you don't get the pages greasy.:tu

 

Thanks Jeff, I've used that site a lot.
A friend has the hard copy and I prefer the online best since it prints out better than the original and like you mentioned about getting grease on a book. Danny

 

just to answer the thread. It sounds like the Neutral safety switch is mis aligned. To verify, remove both purple wires from the switch and connect them to eachother. Make sure the car is in park and try the starter. if it cranks the neutral safety switch was the issue. THis neutral safety switch is bullet proof as long as it is adjusted properly. I assume it was out of adjustment.

 

Last week I installed the new NSS and it would only start in reverse. There were no instructions so I thought about it and figured I could re-position the NSS since it has elongated mounting holes. It now starts in park. Thanks for all the help. Danny

 

Last week I installed the new NSS and it would only start in reverse. There were no instructions so I thought about it and figured I could re-position the NSS since it has elongated mounting holes. It now starts in park. Thanks for all the help. Danny

Do you have the wires on the correct terminals? The neutral safety switch has 2 sets of contacts, 2 terminals for the starter and 2 for the back-up lights. The back-up light contact is closed only in reverse and the starter contact is closed in both neutral and in park.
It's a good idea to be able to start in neutral as well as park, in case the engine should die while coasting.

 

This is how I have it wired. Danny

 

how to align a neutral safety switch

On the back side..metal.. there is a hole in the switch. this hole has a matching hole inside the plastic part. When the switch is centered these holes line up. Install a paper clip in the holes and tape in place. Now verify the column and trans are in neutral and install the switch. Then remove the tape and clip. Now start vehicle... Wa La.
Most people remove the switch wile painting the column and dont realize there is a way to re-set it.
The easy way to check which terminals are for what...
With the terminals facing you... slide the movable tab all the way counter clockwise, this is park. Now test which terminals have continuity. The set that does is the Neutral Safety portion. The other two are for back up lights.

 

On the back side..metal.. there is a hole in the switch. this hole has a matching hole inside the plastic part. When the switch is centered these holes line up. Install a paper clip in the holes and tape in place. Now verify the column and trans are in neutral and install the switch. Then remove the tape and clip. Now start vehicle... Wa La.
Most people remove the switch wile painting the column and dont realize there is a way to re-set it.
The easy way to check which terminals are for what...
With the terminals facing you... slide the movable tab all the way counter clockwise, this is park. Now test which terminals have continuity. The set that does is the Neutral Safety portion. The other two are for back up lights.

Great instructions :tu
really wish I had known this when I installed mine...
thanks Scott will keep this for future reference :tu

 

My friend who's a retired electrician & has a 56 Chevy wagon came over today to help me figure out what gives with no back up lights on my 55.
It was only starting in park and now only in neutral. I have a TH400 with a Flaming River column shift. I have a new neutral safety switch for a TH400 which we played/adjusted with most of the day.

The back up lights work with a jumper wire from the battery to the NSS back up wires and we did bench continuity tests on the switch and all the involved wires and they check out fine. As I shift through the gears the back up lights will come on between reverse and park so I know the wiring is correct. We also did continuity tests on the starter lugs while adjusting the NSS on the column.

I have an old NSS that we took apart to do some measurements and figure out how it works. We came to the conclusion that the switch needs 5/8" of travel to engage the buss that activates the park and neutral part of the switch. The column shift will only travel 3/8" in the same area. We figure we need an additional 1/4" of travel between park and neutral.

My question is, can the travel be adjusted by turning the turn buckle linkage between the column and transmission out longer to make the travel on the column longer?
Is there another NSS that has a longer travel than the TH400 ones?
Thanks for your help, Danny

 

My question is, can the travel be adjusted by turning the turn buckle linkage between the column and transmission out longer to make the travel on the column longer?
Is there another NSS that has a longer travel than the TH400 ones?
Danny

You will need a shorter or adjustable shift lever on the transmission. This will increase the amount of movement of the column lever to the amount of movement of the transmission lever. Does the indicator show the correct gear selection? If the lever travel is too short, the indicator will most likely be off also.

Anothe option is a transmission mounted neutral safety switch. Lokar makes a heavy duty one but it's either a neutral safety or back up switch, not both. You could use the column back up and transmission mounted neutral safety switch. http://www.lokar.com/product-pgs/autotrans-access-parts/accessparts-product-pgs/backuplight-safetyswitch.html

 

Don, I have very similar linkage like what's in your picture. I think there's enough room to adjust it in like you suggest. When I bought the car drive was in the neutral position. When I installed the new column I adjusted the indicator wire so it would show the correct gear but park wasn't even close. I'll have to spread that wire back out some. I was just guessing the linkage was the problem and I appreciate your response.Thanks very much Danny