Neutral Safety/Inhibitor Switch

K

karekare

New Member
Hello All. I'm a new (to ownership) P6 owner- '74 3500 Auto...
The Neutral Safety/Inhibitor switch seems a bit faulty-in that a few times she won't turn over when in Park, but I've got mobile holding the key in the start position and moving the selector in & out of Park until she Kicks over...., although this afternoon it left me in this position for about 10min...
Having never owned an Automatic Car before, where is this switch mounted on the P6?, and is it a "disgard & replace" item, an "adjust it correctly" item, or a "pull it apart & clean/lubricate" item?? I could go looking, but it's cold & wet this time of Year in the Southern Hemisphere-so I thought I'd be Lazy & post a question here....
Sean.
 
Hello Sean,

Is your transmission a 35 or 65? To tell easily, which side is the transmission dip stick on? The inhibitor switches for each are different. In the case of the former, there is adjustment possible to allow the engine to start in P and N only. Of course over time the switch can fail, so a new switch may still be required. In the case of the latter, there is no adjustment possible, and a new switch is required.

Ron.
 
Cheers Ron- & where would one find the switch? (Cars outside, ground is wet, owner is lazy, and would prefer to go directly to the part than clamber around looking... no access to a hoist in next few days) Dipstick is on Left side of Car (passengers side as is a Right Hand Drive car-NZ) '1974, Thank-you for Your time & help on this.
 
Hello Sean,

Ok,..your Rover has a 65 transmission. The inhibitor switich is on the passenger's side of the transmission, accessible from underneath. It is not adjustable so if it is indeed the culprit then a new one is required.

Where to buy,..hmmm, I don't have a 65 so I have never needed to source one. I am sure that another forum member will pop by and offer assistance on this score.

Ron.
 
Thanks Ron, I'm just being Lazy, as it's cold & wet outside & my workshops got a Truck Cab in it.... the switch will be the culprit-in that this car starts more easily than my Audi A4TQ except when the "issue" occurs, and is overcome by holding key in Starter position & being unpleasant towards the gear selector-till it allows the starter to engage. I'll get under it this week and have a look-see if I can save the switch-I'm restoring an old British Lorry with even less readily available parts, so getting used to resurrecting expired old british electrical components.... Thank you for Your assistance on this matter!
 
Before getting too involved with the switch, make sure that the nylon seat in the gearlever isn't worn, and that the selector cable is correctly adjusted.
 
This is an old thread I know, but it seemed the right place to transfer the question I asked elsewhere yesterday.

My inhibitor switch (Type 35 gearbox) doesn't allow the car to start in Park. Neutral is the only option. With the car on the hoist, John the mechanic, who admits he's no B-W expert, pronounced the switch contacts for Park to be at fault (maybe thinking of other sorts of cars), but over at my other thread Tony and Harvey have already discounted this theory.

So, what procedure should be followed from here? It'd certainly be good to here that it's an adjustment problem and I don't require a new switch. No better chance than now to sort it, while the car is trapped on the hoist due to lack of electricity following the earthquake.
 
First of all disconnect the droplink from the selector arm on the box, and then operate the selector arm manually and see if it starts in Park & Neutral. If it does adjust the selector rod to suit the lever so that it works when you operate the gearlever. If it doesn't work with the linkage disconnected then you will have to adjust the switch itself until it's in the correct position. If you have the early switch with a locknut, slacken the locknut and move the switch in and out on the thread until it works as it should. You will not have to go very far, move it 1/4 of a turn at a time, and even that may be too far. Don't lose your starting place.
If you have the later switch without the locknut you need to remove it completely, you need to see if you can see the groove on the shaft, and then you pull out the plunger until it is further out than it should be, then screw it back in with the box in Park and it sets itself. Not very well explained that, but if you look in the book the illustation shows it well, and explains it better than I can.

As yours works in Neutral I would hope that it's just a linkage problem to save you adjusting the switch itself.
 
Thanks Harvey. I'll email that directly to John, and perhaps drop into the workshop myself if circumstances allow (circumstances being somewhat extraordinary at the moment).

Much appreciated.
 
Hello Warren,

I had the same problem with my inhibitor switch, the engine only starting in neutral. It was like this for 24 years even though I had the transmission removed and rebuilt on a number of occasions not to mention being serviced on numerous occasions. I asked the transission people each time for this problem to be corrected but all to no avail. It seemed to stump everybody.

So in 2009 when the transmission failed again, this time I had it upgraded to a much higher standard so as to be better able to cope with my 4.6, I supplied a genuine new inhibitor switch. As far as I am aware the problem was entirly within the switch as my Rover since then has always started perfectly in both Park and Neutral. When I looked in the workshop manual at the necessary procedure I was a little concerned as I did not provide any of the details, but I need not of worried. Ward knew exactly what he was doing, end result..perfection.

Top people like Harvey and Ward are hard to come by these days, a wealth of experience and a desire for work to be done properly.

Ron.
 
Marvellous advice from everybody, as usual. Ron, it is absolutely without a doubt that were it not for everybody here on the Forum I'd have made much less progress on Brown Rover by now. I'm no car expert, and would struggle greatly by myself. So this is one of the joys of the internet! It brings us all together from around the globe - unfortunately that same geographical fact prevents me from getting everybody around for a barbecue by way of thanks.

So, to encapsulate, it would seem that the best way forward is to follow Harvey's suggested procedure, but should it prove unsuccessful, to not hesitate to buy a new switch.

Regards to all.
 
SydneyRoverP6B said:
Top people like Harvey and Ward are hard to come by these days, a wealth of experience and a desire for work to be done properly.
Click to expand...
And all Harvey asks in return is a decent fry-up! Well, nearly. :wink:
 
This is an aside to the main thread really. I see most people on here actually use Park. I never do. My reasoning being, that engaging a mechanical dog clutch to lock the box solid is just asking too much of life in general. Sooner or later the car's going to get a tap from behind, I'm going to be a bit distracted and go to P when stil rolling etc etc. ISo when it happens I don't want an exploded transmission as well. In my view the handbrake is there for a reason, and if it isn't adequate there's something wrong with the handbrake that needs fixing. And with those Girling back brakes, the more times the handbrake is operated the better! So I always leave the car in N and never use P.

What do other people and Harvey think?

Chris
 
You make a good point, Chris, but if parked on a steep hill I'd rather have an exploded gearbox than a smashed car should the handbrake decide to take a... err... break. That dog clutch might be the difference between a Rover and an ex-Rover.
 
I only use park when i'm worried by the gradient... partly because PAE prefers starting in N...

Rich.
 
I always use 'P' as you don't need to look down to know what it's in (lazy) and so many customers cars with inhibitor faults makes that a good habit in a busy workshop.
Back in the day this was always the last thing on peoples lists :roll:
No good jumping in and starting up thinking you're in neutral and it drives off in 'D' or 'R' through the garage wall :oops:

Lots of the ex Police cars we worked on had the 'P' dog removed so that they could screech up to a job, yank the handbrake, slam park and jump out to catch the crims :LOL:
Park and the handbrake for me :)
 
I agree with Grim on all of his points, (apart from the parking pawls being removed on the Police motors. I never saw it on any of the ones I worked on at the time), Park and handbrake for me too.
BTW, the 35 box can snap the pawl off if you try to engage Park when the car is moving, but the 65 has a ratchet mechanism that will only allow it to engage once the car stops, so as all the plod cars I saw had 65's that could explain how it came up that the pawls were removed so they could slam it in Park to catch the crims. (Those were the days....)
 
The Rovering Member said:
a decent fry-up!
Click to expand...

drooling-homer-simpson.jpg
 
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