location of neutral safety switch 71 mustang

Trying to find the neutral safety switch/backup light switch on my 71 Mustang. the car has been setting for years and is in quite a wiring state. everything from under the dash out through the fire wall looks unmolested. so I have located the four wire plug at the end of the harness from inside the car. It has 2 red/w blue trace wires and 1 white w/purple trace and a black w/ pink trace. the only wire cobbled into the mate of this plug goes from one of the red w/blue trace to the starter solenoid. The car does start.... Any help? thanks in advance!

It is probably located on the side of the trans (auto) under the shift linkage and is held on by 2 bolts, the shift lever has to come off to remove it. the bolt holes are elongated to allow for slight adjustment.

Checked the location. The car has a 351 2V with an FMX trans. (14 pan bolts) not the factory goods. The car has a console shifter but also has the column linkage as well. I have not worked on a ford of this vintage for 30 yrs. and the double linkage deal has me confused.....

On an FMX the switch is on the shifter not the trans.

Checked the location. The car has a 351 2V with an FMX trans. (14 pan bolts) not the factory goods. The car has a console shifter but also has the column linkage as well. I have not worked on a ford of this vintage for 30 yrs. and the double linkage deal has me confused.....

Click to expand...

71/73 never had a column shifter. Now it did have a rod that was held the key from being removed unless the car was in nuetral, maybe thats what you see on the column.

In the picture below the switch is in the shifter on an FMX or C6 w/429.

Let me know if you need more pictures.

mike

A 71 H code would have had the FMX from the factory

As other has shown the safety switch is in the shifter housing on an FMX

The harness from the shifter does run thru the trans tunnel to plug in connectors by the wiper motor

Has 2 connectors and uses { I think } 5 wires

1 for the light

2 for power in / out to back up lights

2 for power in / out for ignition

You can go to my site to see a picture of the plugs

Don

Item #D2ZZ-7247-B

69-73 FMX NEUTRAL SAFETY SWITCH

Made using the original blue prints and nos samples.

What looks like a column shift is the column lock. It allows the steering wheel to lock when in park. I swapped a four speed into a 71 many years ago and that column lock even lined up and you could lock the column with the key out and the shifter in reverse. Hard to find all the parts now but that was a very easy swap - everything out of the doner bolted straight into the car. No mods, no mess.

Thanks to all for the help. I'm not very good at all the terms on this forum, please forgive me. I have a couple of photos to upload because I'm still not clear. I have been referencing the simple wire diagrams that are posted here on the website as a guide. If the plug at the end of the harness from inside the car is where the neutral safety switch plugs in, then where does the wire ( red w/Lt.blue) from the left small terminal on the starter solenoid connect to and what is that's wire function???? How do attach photos?

In the picture below the switch is in the shifter on an FMX or C6 w/429.

Let me know if you need more pictures.

mike

Click to expand...

Thanks for the photo, checked my car, appears no neutral switch there?

trying to figure out how to post a photo to help in this discussion. Scott

Thanks for the photo, checked my car, appears no neutral switch there?

trying to figure out how to post a photo to help in this discussion. Scott

Click to expand...

Add Photo. Good question.

Reply to this message an look down the screen on the left will say

"new attachment". Click on "browse". This will open a folder on

YOUR computer. Find the picture you want to share and click on it.

Then click the "open" icon. The location of the file will appear in the

window. If you are satisfied with the selection click on the

"Add Attachment" button to the right of the screen. This will D/L

the picture to the forum. Once the D/L is complete the file from your

computer will appear below the "New Attachment" line. To the right

of that will be a button called "insert into post". Click on that and

your picture will be inserted WHEREVER the blinking cursor is. So

make sure the blinking cursor is at the bottom of your post or

wherever you want the picture to appear.

Hope this helps.

mike

Thanks to all for the help. I'm not very good at all the terms on this forum, please forgive me. I have a couple of photos to upload because I'm still not clear. I have been referencing the simple wire diagrams that are posted here on the website as a guide. If the plug at the end of the harness from inside the car is where the neutral safety switch plugs in, then where does the wire ( red w/Lt.blue) from the left small terminal on the starter solenoid connect to and what is that's wire function???? How do attach photos?

In the picture below the switch is in the shifter on an FMX or C6 w/429.

Let me know if you need more pictures.

mike

Click to expand...

Thanks for the photo, checked my car, appears no neutral switch there?

trying to figure out how to post a photo to help in this discussion. Scott

Click to expand...

And if that confuses you click on this link from our FAQ section

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-how-to-add-photos-to-your-posts--1387

May have this photo thing figured out. shifter

May have this photo thing figured out. shifter

Click to expand...

May have this photo thing figured out. shifter

May have this photo thing figured out. shifter

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

The only wires are a ground and a wire to the light under the dial.

Thanks to all for the help. I'm not very good at all the terms on this forum, please forgive me. I have a couple of photos to upload because I'm still not clear. I have been referencing the simple wire diagrams that are posted here on the website as a guide. If the plug at the end of the harness from inside the car is where the neutral safety switch plugs in, then where does the wire ( red w/Lt.blue) from the left small terminal on the starter solenoid connect to and what is that's wire function???? How do attach photos?

In the picture below the switch is in the shifter on an FMX or C6 w/429.

Let me know if you need more pictures.

mike

Click to expand...

Thanks for the photo, checked my car, appears no neutral switch there?

trying to figure out how to post a photo to help in this discussion. Scott

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

These are all the wires at the end of the harness coming from inside the car.

Thanks to all for the help. I'm not very good at all the terms on this forum, please forgive me. I have a couple of photos to upload because I'm still not clear. I have been referencing the simple wire diagrams that are posted here on the website as a guide. If the plug at the end of the harness from inside the car is where the neutral safety switch plugs in, then where does the wire ( red w/Lt.blue) from the left small terminal on the starter solenoid connect to and what is that's wire function???? How do attach photos?

In the picture below the switch is in the shifter on an FMX or C6 w/429.

Let me know if you need more pictures.

mike

Click to expand...

Thanks for the photo, checked my car, appears no neutral switch there?

trying to figure out how to post a photo to help in this discussion. Scott

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

These are all the wires at the end of the harness that comes from inside the car. As best I can tell the 4 position plug is for the neutral safety switch. The flat three position plug is for the oil pressure light, water temp. light and +VDC to the coil. the others I haven't figured out yet...

Yes, the four pin hooded connector is the backup lamp/NSS plug. Normally, it passes through the firewall when installed and sits in the engine compartment. Your matching wire coming from the automagic tranny should stay in the engine compartment and plug into the four pin plug.

By the looks of the shifter that is from a car with a C4 trans. It will fit behind the 351C but it has the NSS on the side of the trans where the linkage attaches. Otherwise you seem to be missing one entirely

Could also be a C6. That looks just like the shifter that is now sitting on my kitchen table waiting for new bushings. If it is the C6 than the neutral safety switch is on the side of the trans. No need to remove the shifter to replace it. Disconnect the linkages and unbolt the switch.