Ballast resistor wiring

It tends to be on starting it will idle and then when the shifter is moved to reverse it will shut off, if i persist and get it idling for a minute or so it will usually settle, the linkage seems fine, although it has a quirk that it will only engage park after engaging reverse and then pushing through neutral to park. Going from drive or Neutral to park it tends to roll or reverse! I wondered if it could be the neutral safety switch playing a part, so possibly affecting the shift lever movement, but also wether it is part of the starting issue.
The 4 pin ballast is on the upper fender.