1986 Dodge 600 Dodge wont start

So we know the starter is okay, but we need a lot more detail. Did the starter system work when you picked up the car? Had it been working okay consistently before the service work was done? How did the timing belt factor in to any previous problems?

The entire stater system can be broken down into four parts. Each part has a convenient test point at the starter relay. Do you want to diagnose this yourself or are you just looking for advice on how to work with your mechanic? If you want to diagnose it yourself, you'll need a test light. Has anyone considered a defective neutral safety switch? That would be a more likely suspect than an ignition switch. Try cranking the engine with the shifter in neutral. If that works, suspect the neutral safety switch. If it cranks in drive or reverse, look at the shifter cable adjustment.

Sorry Mr. Power. Didn't mean to butt into your conversation.

Dandy. I think you're going to find the shifter cable is the cause of the no-start, but if you want to verify that, find the starter relay on the left inner fender. It will have two fatter wires, a red one and a brown one. There will be two smaller wires. One will be yellow, and there might be two of them together, and I think the other one is black.

I'll tell you the wire colors from memory, but regardless if I get them right or not, these tests are the same for any car that uses a starter relay. Some imports don't.

Unplug that relay and use your test light with the clip lead grounded, and you must find 12 volts on one wire all the time. That will be the red one. Next, you should find 12 volts on one of the smaller wires when a helper turns the ignition switch to "crank". That will be the yellow wire on your car. If that voltage is missing, the new switch is misadjusted. Loosen the two 5/16" screws and slide the switch closer to the steering wheel, as I recall, until the voltage shows up when you have the ignition switch turned as far as it will go.

For the last two tests, move the test light's clip lead to the battery positive post because we'll be testing for ground. It should light up when you probe the last two wires, the brown and the black wires. The brown one goes to ground through the starter solenoid, and we know that is okay from your screwdriver trick. The second smaller black wire goes to ground through the neutral safety switch. If the light doesn't light up on that one, play with the shifter a little until it does. Chrysler always puts the neutral safety switch on the transmission, so if you have to move the shift lever out of park or neutral, the transmission will still be in one of those and the car won't take off unexpectedly.