My EF will not start in Park. To start it, I have to put it in Neutral and pull back on the shifter slightly. I have replaced the shifter bushing once and the inhibitor switch twice. I took it to a decent auto sparky and he said it was the inhibitor switch - thus, the second replacement - but it made no difference.

I have adjusted the linkage through its whole range of travel, but it makes no difference to where the shifter has to be to get it to start. Adjusting the linkage changes the inhibitor switch position in relation to the shifter's Park position, so it cannot be a problem with the inhibitor switch or its wiring.

I'm at wit's end. Has anyone experienced this before? Any ideas on what to check next?

Thanks, all.

Well, I've done some more testing. It looks like it is actually a problem with the brand-new switch - in fact, with two identical, brand-new switches.

I tested the resistance of the 2-pin gear position sensor side and it was exactly in the middle of the specified ohm range for each gear, so I know the switch is clocked correctly.

When I tested the start inhibitor pins, I got a closed circuit only in Neutral and pulled back slightly toward Drive - exactly the one place it is able to start. That must mean that the start inhibitor contacts inside the switch are in the wrong place, as we know that the gear position sensor contacts on the same shaft are in the right place.

Also, I couldn't get continuity across the reverse lamp pins at any point in the gears, also indicating a manufacturing fault in the switch.

Does anyone on Fordmods know of a source for a reliable inhibitor switch? The ones I have are white with one 2-pin connector and one 4-pin connector.

Thanks.

I had a similar issue with the one on my BA where it was showing wrong gear on the dash and being problematic when the switch was also very new. I ended up getting the PAT premium brand replacement and no issues since so im happy to suggest that brand to you. Got it at Bursons.
In fact it was so new my auto transmission specialist nearly wanted to replace the ECU believing it was not the switch.

Thanks heaps, 93EB. The one in the car now is Drivetech brand. Time to buy a third inhibitor switch, I think.