jeep58

Looking to buy nephews jeep just had new alternator put in how ever charging good battery new, when I shut it down it was dead nothing. Ok so I put the shifter in neutral then it started got it home and same thing shut it off and dead on restart. After shifting into neutral it starts, so I put it park shut off again this time it started , Is this a bad neutral safety switch jeep has 155k on it! No check engine lights on this one !

dave1123

I don't think the neutral safety switch is bad, it's just the shifter cable is slightly out of adjustment. Try pushing forward on the shifter when it refuses to start.

jeep58

Is it a big deal to adjust the shift cable, I like the jeep it has the 4.0 motor.

dave1123

There is an adjustment screw on the shifter end of the cable under the console plate. The cable has to be lengthened just a tiny bit to make sure the lever in the transmission is fully engaged in the Park detent. The FSM says the test procedure is to push the lever fully forward and the car should start, then pull back on the lever without pushing the button and the car should start. If both positions don't work, you have to drop the trans pan, loosen the adjusting screw at the shifter, pull the cable end off the lever on the shift valve, make sure the Park is engaged by trying to turn the driveshaft by hand, then slip the cable end back on the valve lever, then tightening the adjustment screw, and repeat test. Yeah, it's a bunch of BS. My advise is to just loosen the screw and make the cable a tiny bit longer. Once in a while, my WJ won't start the same as yours. All I do is slap the lever hard into Park and try again. Works every time!

jeep58

Thanks