68 Coupe C4, 289 w/4bbl. Engine turns over and idles fine. Put in Drive and almost dies immediately. Then very difficult to start. Start it again, put in Drive and it dies again.

I tuned it recently and it ran fine. Thought the new problem was the fuel pump. Yesterday, changed the fuel pump, gas filter, and made sure the gas line was clear. Started it up, same problem all over again.

Also, noticed when it's in Park, sometimes I get nothing when I turn the key, zip, nothing. Like its dead.Put it in Neutral and it turns over.

Could this whole problem come from an electrical short? I'm stumped. Appreciate any advice.

Thanks

 

Possibly a safety switch problem, or a tuning problem.

 

did you let it warm up? choke problems?

also it should idle higher in park/neutral, so make sure your idle is set well for when in drive, or else it may drop too low and die

 

Sounds like 2 seperate problems.
The neutral saftey switch is likley the culprit on the turning over problem. It needs to be adjusted so it will turn over in both park and neutral. The neutral saftey switch will only affect the turning over problem, not the engine dieing.

 

+1 you have to seperate problems
the neutral safety switch affects only if you can actually turn the engine with key. not the idle mixtures or similar.
If it sometimes works in park and sometimes not, but always in neutral, then my first guess would be the switch as well.

As for your other problem .. i know it sounds mad, but why not change back and see if that resolves the issue again just to isolate the issue

 

These are sometimes very difficult to fix. The fuel pump was probably not the reason. So when it dies does it smell like gas? That would indicate that it's flooding.If it doesn't, when it dies, immediately pump the throttle from the engine compt and make sure the accell pump squirts (tells you if you have fuel or not in the float bowl). I suspect you have a carb problem. Lastly it could be basic tune up stuff like dewell, timing, idle speed, and mixture.

 

Mine is dead as a doornail when in neutral. Never has started in neutral. Is that a bad thing? Why would anyone want to start the car in neutral?

 

i wouldn't worry about it. I never had an automatic, so I can't tell from experience.
But I've read quite often on the forums that both seems possible, some start in park+neutral. some in park only.
Maybe there are 2 different safety switches or trannies, I don't know. But I would say it could be perfectly normal.
What is not normal is a car that starts in neutral but doesn't start in park

 

It can be started in N if for some reason your'e tooling down the road and the engine dies thus, allowing the engine to crank without the vehicle being dead stopped.