74 Duster won't start

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Duster Joe

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Hi. I need some help. Have a 74 Duster. When I turn the key, It won't start. Battery is good, radio and lights work, heater switch works with key forward, heater fan comes on, so I know the there is power, i replaced the starter and starter relay today. Still nothing. No click, nothing. Any ideas? Could it be ignition switch?
 
make sure its in neutral and put a big screwdriver across the starter relay terminals ...(the big ones) ....if still nothing .....then I would look into th starter

if it does turn when you jump the relay then it could be a bad relay or wiring (NSS) back to the ignition switch.

I have never had a bad ignition switch in all my mopar days but I have had starters and relays go bad ...not saying its not your switch but I would look at the starter and relay first. could be wiring issue too.....but you will know more once you rule out starter and relay
 
Back in their day owners would place some heavy object in the passengers seat and get a no start condition. Those complaints is why that safety feature disappeared after the one year ( 74 ).
 
I just had the same issue with my 72 dart. When it got cold out it seemed like I had to find a sweet spot in the shifter selector until this morning which there was no more sweet spot. I read in another post to bypass the neutral safety switch by jumping one of the pins on the starter relay to ground which got the car started. But what I would like to know is what stuff I should start buying (neutral safety switch?) or could it be an adjustment or is something need to get lubed ,its funny that it started when it got cold (below freezing)
 
72_dart said:
I just had the same issue with my 72. When it got cold out it seemed like I had to find a sweet spot in the shifter selector until this morning which there was no more sweet spot. I read in another post to bypass the neutral safety switch by jumping one of the pins on the starter relay to ground which got the car started. But what I would like to know is what stuff I should start buying (neutral safety switch?) or could it be an adjustment or is something need to get lubed ,its funny that it started when it got cold (below freezing)
Click to expand...

I doubt the weather is a factor. Since you did seek and find a sweet spot in the shifter for a time
The first thing is visual inspection. There are a few small plastic bushings in shifter linkage. Those will wear away and disappear leaving too much free play in the linkage.
 
72_dart,
Do not bypass the NSS except for a quick test, and make sure nothing is in front of the car when you do that, like yourself. If the NSS is not making contact to ground (you can check easily with a multi-meter - brown wire going down to tranny from starter relay), that means the transmission is not in P or N. The NSS is doing its job protecting you. Work on your shifter linkage until the spring detents in your shifter match the spring detents in your transmission.

Also, next time post a question like this in the Electrical section. Indeed, search for info there first, since this question is regularly answered.
 
I bypassed the NSS to proove it out. The no start didnt happen all the time. This car is my daily driver how else do you start the car if its acting like the NSS is bad? As it turns out when I went to the parts store to buy the NSS when I came out I got another no start, so if the NSS was bypassed its not the NSS. I replaced the starter relay and its been more than a week and haven't had an issue since. I also checked small plastic bushings in shifter linkage and they seemed fine. The whole thing still puzzles me tho. Why sometimes I would have to find a sweet spot in the shifter to get it to start. when it was the starter relay that was bad?

I'm sorry if I posted this in the wrong place I thought it might help others if they were reading...Just like it helped me.
 
The issues in no particular order

battery terminals. battery terminals. battery terminals

battery cables

battery

starter relay

connections at the starter relay

connections at the bulkhead connector

connections at the ignition switch

ignition switch

wiring and connections from starter relay to starter

wiring and connections from starter relay to starter

connections. connections connections

starter.

I admit freely that "intermittent" is a giant PITA and can be tough to find.

Sometimes, you have to 'rig' things, and if a screwdriver works for two weeks, then, well.............

It might be that if the relay was bad (rusty, burned contacts, etc) that when you wiggled the shift linkage, or slammed the door, that "made" the connection

I WOULD TAKE THE OLD RELAY apart and inspect it!!!!!
 
Since the starter relay never actuated with the NSS connected, there was definitely a problem in the "neutral sensed" circuit. That doesn't mean the NSS itself is bad (usually isn't). Once you bypass the NSS, the relay does actuate intermittently. That suggests another problem. Of course, your jumper could be erratic. Are you grounding it to a rusty screw, for example? If not, the problem might be in the upstream side of coil actuation - key switch, wires, seat-belt interlock, wires, bulkhead connector. The seat-belt interlock was 1974 only I recall. Why? Because it was so erratic that customers screamed about being stranded the first year with a new car. Hopefully a prior owner already bypassed yours (many posts here).
 
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