Car wont start unless door is open

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I use both lamps and meter, and more. Meter, common 12V bulb test lamp, LED test lamp as well as "large bulb" test lamps. One is an old headlamp, draws LOTS of current. If you are searching fuse-blowin' dangerous harness meltin' short, you can put that big lamp in series with the battery ground cable, and all that will happen if the short becomes activated---is that the lamp will light

I also have an old tail / stop light socket with an 1157. This is handy for LOTS of stuff because you can configure it to draw different amounts of current..............

1......leave the shell unconnected, connect the test to the two wires. This puts the filaments in series, lowest current configuration
2....Connect test to shell and tail lamp filament, a little more current draw

3....Connect test to shell and stop lamp filament, larger current draw

4...Connect test to shell, and to both tail and stop wires twisted together, maximum draw

This can also help find shorts, as well as loading circuits like a suspect switch or fuse holder to see if there are poor connections.

And learn to "wiggle test" stuff. Very important. Loose connectors, terminals, etc.

I agree with Mattox learn to test under load to show up poor connections. I rarely use an ohmeter on automotive. Usually, that's the last mode I use.

Be aware (especially with AC line power) that modern digital meters can lead you down the wrong path. This is because they take SO little current to operate. For example, you can stick one probe into the hot side of an outlet, and simply grab the other probe with your finger. Your body will act like an antenna, and you will read a fairly high voltage.
 
I'm glad you found it. I was just gonna recommend takin the door off and throwin it in the ditch. Might have been drafty on cold days and wet on rainy ones....but it wouldda started every time. LOL
 
welp. We did some more consolidating and fixing things. now the car starts and stays running.



......If the passanger door is closed. I am under the impression this is somehow a safety feature and that people arent aware of it because not many people start their cars with the door open...

Moving on from this problem now. Any ideas where the fender mounted turn signals plug in? I dont see any place to plug in on the turn signals or anywhere.
 
ratty dart 340 said:
welp. We did some more consolidating and fixing things. now the car starts and stays running.



......If the passanger door is closed. I am under the impression this is somehow a safety feature and that people arent aware of it because not many people start their cars with the door open...

Moving on from this problem now. Any ideas where the fender mounted turn signals plug in? I dont see any place to plug in on the turn signals or anywhere.
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No that is not a feature. LOL

There should be connectors in the harness going out to the headlights and parking lights. Little rubber connectors. this is where your service manual should help.........page 8-165

The two on the left are the main park/ turn laps up front, the two on the right are the connectors for the turn indicators

Frankly, you should already be familiar with this in your manual by now.

turnconnector.jpg
 
67Dart273 said:
No that is not a feature. LOL

There should be connectors in the harness going out to the headlights and parking lights. Little rubber connectors. this is where your service manual should help.........page 8-165

The two on the left are the main park/ turn laps up front, the two on the right are the connectors for the turn indicators

Frankly, you should already be familiar with this in your manual by now.

View attachment 1715887835
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We are missing the connectors then. Cant find them anywhere.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I'm glad you found it. I was just gonna recommend takin the door off and throwin it in the ditch. Might have been drafty on cold days and wet on rainy ones....but it wouldda started every time. LOL
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well now it doesn’t start anymore. I was cleaning up the car and bolted the seatbelts retractors in the car, then it stopped starting. I have not a clue what is happening or where to go from here. The stupid seatbelt buzzer goes off and makes the stupid noise along with the light, both of which had never worked until now. I retraced my exact steps from when I cleaned the car up and replicated everything and couldn’t get it to start. Could me bolting the retractor to the inside, have grounded it somehow? And now it doesn’t want to start after being grounded then taken back off?

the driver side kick panel that hides the junctions for the seat sensors and seatbelts have something to do with it? It seems to be a common place for the buzzer area, and now the seatbelts.
 
Let's determine if you have 74 car (even though it may SAY 73) or maybe someone has swapped in the 74 harness. Look around under the hood for a box about the size of a horn relay with a push button reset. This normally will be on the left apron or left side firewall. If so, go here, read post 17 & 18

bypassing interlock system

Then since the problem has changed, start out like it is a whole new problem. Clip your meter to the yellow start wire on the starter relay. Whenever you twist the key to "start" you should have power there. If not look to that "path". From key switch ----"yellow" through the bulkhead---and to the relay. If it turns out you have the seat belt interlock, then the yellow wire goes through that
 
67Dart273 said:
Let's determine if you have 74 car (even though it may SAY 73) or maybe someone has swapped in the 74 harness. Look around under the hood for a box about the size of a horn relay with a push button reset. This normally will be on the left apron or left side firewall. If so, go here, read post 17 & 18

bypassing interlock system

Then since the problem has changed, start out like it is a whole new problem. Clip your meter to the yellow start wire on the starter relay. Whenever you twist the key to "start" you should have power there. If not look to that "path". From key switch ----"yellow" through the bulkhead---and to the relay. If it turns out you have the seat belt interlock, then the yellow wire goes through that
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The starter relay is sort of jenky and all over the place. The yellow wire that goes to it, can be traced through the bulkhead to the ignition switch correct? If so, when I have the key in start position, there is no power on the yellow wire at the starter relay.

I have been looking an haven’t been able to find the seat belt interlock relay either..
 
67Dart273 said:
Let's determine if you have 74 car (even though it may SAY 73) or maybe someone has swapped in the 74 harness. Look around under the hood for a box about the size of a horn relay with a push button reset. This normally will be on the left apron or left side firewall. If so, go here, read post 17 & 18

bypassing interlock system

Then since the problem has changed, start out like it is a whole new problem. Clip your meter to the yellow start wire on the starter relay. Whenever you twist the key to "start" you should have power there. If not look to that "path". From key switch ----"yellow" through the bulkhead---and to the relay. If it turns out you have the seat belt interlock, then the yellow wire goes through that
Click to expand...

Another funny thing about the car is that i can start it in any gear... The neutral ground switch is what i think its called? I read another forum and it sounded like this switch can act weridly if bad. If my switch is bad, could that possibly be reason for the car acting up and not wanting to start?
 
ratty dart 340 said:
Another funny thing about the car is that i can start it in any gear... The neutral ground switch is what i think its called? I read another forum and it sounded like this switch can act weridly if bad. If my switch is bad, could that possibly be reason for the car acting up and not wanting to start?
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Neutral Safety Switch^*
 
67Dart273 said:
Let's determine if you have 74 car (even though it may SAY 73) or maybe someone has swapped in the 74 harness. Look around under the hood for a box about the size of a horn relay with a push button reset. This normally will be on the left apron or left side firewall. If so, go here, read post 17 & 18

bypassing interlock system

Then since the problem has changed, start out like it is a whole new problem. Clip your meter to the yellow start wire on the starter relay. Whenever you twist the key to "start" you should have power there. If not look to that "path". From key switch ----"yellow" through the bulkhead---and to the relay. If it turns out you have the seat belt interlock, then the yellow wire goes through that
Click to expand...


Still have not found the issue. Somehow the problem has changed. Now when I go to crank the car, the seatbelt light and buzzer come on. Didn’t use to do that before.
And also now the car only has spark when the starter is engaged. The second you release the key, no spark.

just got my ignition module tested. Good news: it works. Bad news: that wasn’t the problem.
 
You jumped ship into that other thread, with the Ford relay. I did not realize how possibly hacked up your harness is. You might want to consider trying to find a knowledgeable local "Mopar guy" who can do some hands on troubleshooting with that.

I can only offer advice on "factory," as I/ we cannot see what you "have." That is why, also, the possibility of melted/ damaged harnesses is so difficult
 
67Dart273 said:
You jumped ship into that other thread, with the Ford relay. I did not realize how possibly hacked up your harness is. You might want to consider trying to find a knowledgeable local "Mopar guy" who can do some hands on troubleshooting with that.

I can only offer advice on "factory," as I/ we cannot see what you "have." That is why, also, the possibility of melted/ damaged harnesses is so difficult
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yup very good idea and I agree.

except for the fact that I fixed it?

I took the the key in buzzer from my old ignition switch, and. Wired it up to my new connector temporarily. I was just testing things with it.

it didn’t start so I got annoyed and unplugged the stupid seat buzzer. I cranked and it started and idled…..


I plugged the buzzer back in and pulled out the key in buzzer, and it started again.

my brain cannot comprehend this issue.
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What I think might be happening, is that either you are unknowingly wiggling/ jiggling a harness enough that it makes or breaks a bad connection, or there is simply something intermittent. It might just be in the ignition switch.

You need to get serious here. Figure a way to connect your meter to the ouputs of the switch so you can SEE them, or do it with lights. See if the light goes out or dim when the problem is at hand right there at the switch. if that is OK, move to the engine side of the bulkhead connector.
 
67Dart273 said:
Explain further, the neutral/ reverse switch has 3 terminals and two switches. The center pin is switched to ground in park/ neutral and goes to the starter relay for neutral safety, allowing the siwtch to activate only in those two shifter positions. The outer two are reverse lights, so the 2nd and 3rd wires in that harness are power to the reverse switch, and the 3rd wire feeds off TO the reverse lights. It routs up through the bulkhead, down to the left side kick panel connector, and on to the rear harness and reverse lamps

I'm still not seeing anything that relates specifically to your problem. Actually there "should" be nothing damage wise in the engine bay that could cause the start problem, as there is no courtesy lamp wiring in the bay. The comments I made earlier were more "general" and also if someone had hacked some anti theft device in.
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Hey there. I have made a ton of headway since the last time I posted on this forum, but some new issue have come up. I can start the car every time regardless of door. The connection from ignition switch to the rest of the car was loose, broken, and shorting the wires. However, now when I put the car in any other gear, it stalls. I have been back and forth from torque converter, to ignition box, to brake booster, and now I’m back where I began. The Neutral safety switch. I need to do some testing still but, would either a busted NSS, faulty wiring to the NSS cause this problem? I jumped forums to somehow who described something very similar to my issue. However my issue is that the car stalls when I push the brake prior to changing gears.
 
I would start with "are you sure it's electrical?" Or maybe "is it a tuning or other problem?"

Try temporarily jumpering power with an alligator clip lead direct to the coil. See if the problem stops. If not, obviously not electrical.

Could be carb idle mixture/ vacuum leak/ timing. In rare cases a converter problem "trying" to lock up do to internal problems.
 
67Dart273 said:
I would start with "are you sure it's electrical?" Or maybe "is it a tuning or other problem?"

Try temporarily jumpering power with an alligator clip lead direct to the coil. See if the problem stops. If not, obviously not electrical.

Could be carb idle mixture/ vacuum leak/ timing. In rare cases a converter problem "trying" to lock up do to internal problems.
Click to expand...

yup. I’m sure it’s not mixture or carb. Vaccum leak is a very good contender. Specifically from the brake booster. Someone in a different thread had mentioned that a nipple on his was cracked, which led to a leak. I set timing with a timing gun couple months ago, but I’ll double check.
 
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