[Shop-talk] strange automotive electrical problem

[Al Fuller]

Good point!!  Is this a column shift?

I'm betting the first thing that happens when the engine quits is the gear
shifter gets moved. (Into neutral or park, if stopped; into neutral to
coast off the road if it happens while driving...) Moving the shifter could
be changing whether spark is being called for.

________________
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Best Regards,
Al Fuller

On Wed, May 20, 2026, 11:15 AM watsonm05 at comcast.net <watsonm05 at comcast.net>
wrote:

> Well, I've seen a lot of good suggestions but there's one part of the
> problem description that hasn't been addressed:
>
> "...Dakota digital dash system *including neutral safety switch* and
> Transmission gear indicator"
>
> What if the digital dash is opening the neutral safety switch when it
> shouldn't?
>
> My wild a** guess of a suggestion for whatever it's worth (maybe exactly
> what you paid for it - $0.00 ;-) )
>
> Mark
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Shop-talk <shop-talk-bounces at autox.team.net> on behalf of Mark
> Andy <marka at maracing.com>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, May 20, 2026 1:39 PM
> *To:* shop-talk <shop-talk at autox.team.net>
> *Subject:* Re: [Shop-talk] strange automotive electrical problem
>
> Howdy,
>
> I had a similar thing a long time ago with a more modern car... '99
> Camaro.  That did turn out to be grounding related (specifically, the
> grounds between the engine block and the chassis).
>
> But in my case the car almost never ran right, vs. it only occasionally
> having a problem.  Not to say that you couldn't be on a similar path of
> course.  Given that its fairly easy, I would definitely just run a
> completely new / separate grounding wire from the engine to the chassis.
> Maybe even one to the frame and one to whatever sheet metal your ignition
> stuff is mounted on / getting its ground from?
>
> I also wouldn't rule out the new harness if everything else checks out
> either though.  You wouldn't be the first person to have a brand new thing
> have an issue.  I assume you've carefully inspected all related connectors
> for a pin that's not fully seated, etc. etc?
>
> Good luck!  With my Camaro after dicking with it for a year or so, I took
> it to a very well respected mechanic with instructions to either fix it or
> burn it.  At that point I didn't care which way it went.  :)
>
> Mark
>
> On Wed, May 20, 2026 at 1:37 AM Pat Horne <patintexas at icloud.com> wrote:
>
> Block to frame/body ground straps?
>
> Pat Horne
> We support Habitat for Humanity
>
>
> On May 19, 2026, at 6:29 PM, eric at megageek.com wrote:
>
> <http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/eric@megageek.com>
> <http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/eric@megageek.com>
> megageek.com
> <http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/eric@megageek.com>
>
>
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