electrical and ignition 80 320i neutral safety switch

[752002SFGiants]

Still no crank no start....... I pulled apart the shifter to get a look at the neutral switch and I found  some damage in there , some broken pieces AND  2 wires  cut and just hanging there doing nothing .

One is brown and the other is white with a blue stripe ....see pic please .if anyone can tell me if those wires are important , the brown wire comes out of the center of the plug. Thank you Thank you a million times thank you .

I figure ive got about a weeks worth of patience left for this 80 320i .     Ken  (Santa Clara, ca.)

[Mike Self]

Ken, a neutral safety switch--regardless of which car it's used on--simply interrupts the current flow to the starter when the switch is in the "off" position--and it's gonna be in the off position when the gear selector is in any position except neutral or park.  

 

I don't have an E21 wiring diagram, but I'll bet it's somewhere on the 'net...failing that, you need to check all the wires on that switch to see which one is hot with the ignition on.  Then you need to find the wire that leads to the starter.  When you find those two, you should be able to start the car with the gear selector in any position.  Of course that's not a Good Thing, which is why the switch is there in the first place.  

 

You should be able to buy a new switch without too much trouble--knowing BMW, that same switch is most likely used in other models than an E21.  But the first thing I'd do is to find a wiring diagram and see what both the intact and cut wires do.

 

Cheers

mike

[John_in_VA]

Can't add anything, but here's the link to the factory E21 repair manual:

https://www.bmwtechinfo.com/repair/main/027en/index.htm

Edited July 20, 2016 by John_in_VA
spelling correction

[752002SFGiants]

Thank you Mike and John . I truly appreciate your replies and the link. I will try to reply when I get something positive happening.

 

Ken 

[Russkcpa]

Ken

Here is a link to the e21 forum

I'm sure you will find your answer here

Russ

 

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?143-1975-1983-(E21)

[752002SFGiants]

Okay I found out that the 2 wires were attached to a light in the ashtray .

I was doing  a continuity test on the ignition, testing the connections with ignition in different positions.

When I put the probe into the socket where the brown and black wire are, (brw and blk goes to the neutral safety switch ) and then grounded the probe ,

turned the key and "EUREKA" the starter turned. This car has been in my possession for 8 years and the starter has never turned , so I am extremely elated.

WooooHooooo. A boatload of work to do now getting it all back together . Thank you for all the help .