No crank - battery good

[Still Pat]

Kinda puzzled, first time was back Oct.? Nov.? maybe. It was still warm. Shut it off to go shopping. came back out & pulled into the loading zone. Shut it off to load & wouldn't restart. Friend got a couple wrenches & I jumped it across the solenoid. Started right up. Had already played with the shifter making sure it was in park, HOLDING the key in "start" & running through ALL the gears, nada. No click, no quick buzz like it was turning over but not long enough to catch the flywheel, ZILCH, ZIP!! Day or two later, jump across the solenoid again & take it to a guy that does mekanik on the side. While driving, I said "Self, let's just see what happens with it running now". Turned the key just enough, buzz/zing! Well, okay then! Dropped it with him, got it back a couple months later, maybe 3. Had told him to replace BOTH neutral safety switch & solenoid. Did just fine till yesterday. Went out to start it, had a couple packages I needed to ship. Climbed in, turned the switch & nada! DEAD silence. Tried a couple times, played around a little bit, nope!  Well, I've gotta go, the Post Office & U.P.S. are gonna close. Got them outta the Eagle into the van & shipped before everything closed. Came back, parked the van & that was it for the day. Called around to a couple shops, found a place that said "Yeah, we can get you in today". Went out, cranked right over, just like normal!! Took it to that shop & dropped it off. Explained everything to them, okay. Got a call this afternoon, we can't find anything. We musta tried it at least 50 times. One good thing was "NO CHARGE". They said they didn't find anything, no parts used so, no charge. Two or three ideas I've got rattling around in-between the rocks - #!) Ign. sw., #2) The rod down through the steering column from the lock cyl. down to the actual switch, #3), the lock cyl. - it's worn enough to be able to pull the key out with it still running. My line of thinking is that it's binding/not letting it turn far enough. After that, I'm pretty much outta ideas> I can't afford to & don't wanna just start throwing new parts at it & hope it's fixed.

[Taylor]

I remember you having a problem with the neutral safety switch last fall. Did you get that resolved or could it be part of the problem? If not the switch maybe the connector? Also, the ignition box, the wires that come out of the top, mine were starting to break and short. I ended up replacing the box because it was causing the engine to shut off intermittently.

[Still Pat]

I was GUESSING it was the neutral safety switch OR the solenoid last year. Had them BOTH replaced! Acted exactly the same this time.

[AMC of Houston]

Ignition switch??   I just had mine go south (after 200K miles!).   Btw; its normal to be able to pull out the ign key while running (thru about the '84 model if I remember right).   Not sure of AMC's reasoning for that tho - probably wanted you to be able to get your other keys out to pop the hatch, get in the house, whatever without shutting off the car.

[maddog]

I'm wondering if it's the electrical switch under the dash that the rod goes into maybe the contacts on it are worn out because the warmer the temperatures the more plastics and metals tend to expand which would thus cause the contacts not to touch like they're supposed to.

[Still Pat]

See, now y'all thinking like me. Those are the kinda ideas I was having, but I didn't say anything because I didn't KNOW! I wanted THEM to diagnose & fix the problem. Last time, I guessed & threw a couple parts at, figuring they were nearly 40 years old. Rather than the hassle of actually finding what was wrong, I'd just throw a couple little parts at it. Got it back, seemed fixed till this time. So I decided, well I got my guvmint money, I can afford to have a shop find out WHAT IS wrong & get it fixed. Then they don't find anything, no charge (which is nice, but still ...). Tends to leave me feeling lost & confused (more so than usual). Only thing I know is "Run it till it breaks". Just keep on keeping on until it happens again.

[Illeagle1984]

It can be just as frustrating for us mechanics when the car comes in and it works just fine a hundred tries in a row.  Next time it happens, you may consider doing a bit of diagnostics yourself to narrow down the possibilities.  All you need is a cheap test light; you can even make one out of a 194 bulb and a couple lengths of wire.  The resistance in the bulb will keep you from accidentally shorting anything out, and will give you a basic idea if you have power at a given terminal or not.  If it doesn't start, check the small S wire on the solenoid, light blue with tracer I believe.  Just put one wire to the terminal, one to the nearby battery ground, and have someone try to crank it while you watch the bulb.  That will tell you if the problem is upstream (possibly ignition switch, NSS, etc) or in the starter circuit (I've had several new starter solenoids that intermittently stay on or not work).  Before you try to jump/bypass the solenoid, just make completely sure it's in park/neutral and any helper has a foot on the brake...if it's in gear and fires up, it will want to start rolling!