1996 Dodge Ram Other Day After Work Decided Replace Flasher Relay Fuse Box

1996 DODGE RAM
11,600 MILES
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So , the other day after work, I decided to replace a flasher relay in fuse box, and took the dash face off, to repair volume switch on my stereo, Now my truck will not start.

Battery seems to be charged, and lights on dash, come on when i go to start, but will not begin to turnover. The only thing that I can think of, was when I took dash face off, I had to pull auto shifter down, to slide it out from behind steering wheel, when i did that, truck went into neutral with the key on, and rolled forward a few feet before I applied the brake....

Read about, neutral safety switches, starter relays, etc... just not sure... Has never had any problems starting, charging etc....

Any suggestions on where to go from here, would be greatly appreciated. Need to get back to work on monday.

Thanks,
Nov 24, 2012 at 6:28 PM
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CARADIODOC
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The starter circuit can be broken down into four parts, each with a corresponding terminal in the starter relay socket. Use a test light to measure the voltages on those terminals. One will have 12 volts all the time. One will have 12 volts when a helper turns the ignition switch to "crank". Once those two are identified, move the test light's ground clip to the battery positive post, then probe the other two terminals. It will light up when you have a ground circuit. One reads through the starter solenoid to ground and the other one reads through the neutral safety switch to ground. Find which one of those is missing.
Nov 25, 2012 at 5:58 AM
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