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Old 08-12-2013, 08:26 AM   #181
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Well, using vice grips under the floorboard holding the loose captive nut allowed me to drill the head of the screw off. Solved that problem


Brad
That was going to be my suggestion.

Good to see progress.
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Old 08-12-2013, 09:41 AM   #182
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One thing that has me baffled. On the 86 345 steering column a switch or sensor was bolted close to the floorboard. The little ear sticks into the steering column housing. The 74 Argosy didn't have this sensor installed. Any clue as to what it is for?

Attachment 192950

Brad
Brad, I asked some of the guys at work and we believe this is the neutral safety swith, since your '74 Argosy MH has an automatic transmission.

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Originally Posted by bkahler View Post
Rick,

I just looked at my 74 chassis wiring diagram and it shows a four wire neutral safety switch. And I just looked at the original 74 steering column and there are no provisions for mounting the switch. The 86 steering column had two screw holes for mounting the switch, they aren't present on the 74 column.

Rockauto.com lists the switch in the attached picture as being the neutral safety switch

Attachment 192960

Since the wiring diagram shows four wires and this switch only has two there is an obvious disconnect somewhere! I need to see if the switch in the picture is located somewhere on the chassis. I also need to do a comparison between my chassis wiring and the factory wiring diagram.

Did GM use different types of safety switches on the P30 trucks? This really has me baffled!

Brad
....and we believe this photo from Rockauto.com is for a clutch safety switch, or to put it another way, a neutral safety switch for a manual transmission.

Rick
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Old 08-12-2013, 03:16 PM   #183
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Brad, I asked some of the guys at work and we believe this is the neutral safety swith, since your '74 Argosy MH has an automatic transmission.



....and we believe this photo from Rockauto.com is for a clutch safety switch, or to put it another way, a neutral safety switch for a manual transmission.

Rick
Rick,

What you describe makes sense. I'm mainly curious about one thing which is why did my my original Argosy steering column not have the screw holes for mounting the switch? The rectangular notch is present in the column but there was no way to mount it.

Also I looked the wiring over last night and couldn't locate any wiring that might have been part of the neutral safety switch circuit. Fortunately the 1986 345 steering column that I installed has the mounting holes and I have no problem modifying the wiring to accommodate the switch.

I'm wondering if at some point prior to the chassis being shipped to Airstream, GM might have had the chassis ear marked for a manual transmission. That would explain why the manual transmission safety switch is installed. I vaguely remember seeing that switch under the dash. I'll check again this evening.

I do know my Argosy is one of the first ones made by Airstream so who knows what GM shipped!

Thanks for the info!

Brad
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Old 08-12-2013, 03:35 PM   #184
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Rick,

What you describe makes sense. I'm mainly curious about one thing which is why did my my original Argosy steering column not have the screw holes for mounting the switch? The rectangular notch is present in the column but there was no way to mount it.

Brad
Brad,

Did the switch in your photo come off of your '74 Argosy? There's a good possibility that on the Chevrolet '74 P-30 chassis the neutral safety switch for an automatic is mounted on the transmission. I think that in later years (77and up?) GM moved them to the sterring column. I think that same swithc is also the backup light switch. Even our GM parts information does not list the '74 P-30 neutral safety switch any more. I have to talk the "old guys" (ha, my age!) here ar work that remember!
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Old 08-12-2013, 06:26 PM   #185
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Rick,

The switch in the photo is from the 1986 345. When I got the Argosy the original 454 engine and transmission had been pulled by some long forgotten PO to use in a stock car

The person I bought it from had installed a 350 with TH400 transmission (but he never got it running). When I got it I yanked the 350 and am building a 454 to go back in with the TH400. I was told the 350 and the TH400 were from a 1-ton dually pickup.

I checked out the wiring in the engine compartment area and didn't see anything that looked like it would go to the transmission. I'm fairly certain the existing transmission doesn't have any connection points other than for the kick-down switch. Which means I'm going to have sort through the wiring and try to match it to the switch that I'll put on the steering column. Since I'm going through all of the wiring anyway it really shouldn't pose a problem.

In the housing that holds the throttle pedal I found the following which I assume is the kickdown switch for the transmission.

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I did find this connector which is part of the engine compartment wiring harness. It has two heavy gauge blue wires and two lighter gauge green wires. Any ideas as to what it is supposed to plug into?!

Click image for larger version

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Also, I didn't see anything that looked like the manual transmission clutch safety switch so we can rule out my one theory mentioned previously

Thanks!

Brad
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Old 08-13-2013, 06:08 AM   #186
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Rick,

I believe the unknown connector I posted a picture of is for the transmission mounted neutral safety switch. I found the following pictures on the Jalopy Journal website.

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Name:	th400-neutral-safety-switch-1.jpg
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According to the article GM made a special bracket for mounting the switch to the transmission. Since I have a steering column that accepts the later style of switch I'll just rewire as necessary to make things work.

Thanks for the help!

Brad
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Old 08-13-2013, 07:49 AM   #187
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Brad,

You're welcome. I see that Rockauto does list a column mount switch for a 1977 P-30 Chevrolet. Here's the link.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1058903,parttype,4584

Rick
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Old 08-13-2013, 07:09 PM   #188
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Brad,

You're welcome. I see that Rockauto does list a column mount switch for a 1977 P-30 Chevrolet. Here's the link.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1058903,parttype,4584

Rick
Rick,

That switch looks identical to the one that was on the 345 column.

I took a closer look at the wire colors on the connector that I thought was for the neutral safety switch and where I thought the two large wires were blue they are actually purple which is what the wiring diagrams says they should be. Now that I'm certain that section of harness is for the neutral safety switch it should be a piece of cake to modify to suit the new column location.

Now if I could just find time...

Brad
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Old 08-14-2013, 10:28 PM   #189
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neutral switch

I have a 76 Argosy/454. The neutral safety switch is in the Turbo 400 transmission. The wiring from the key goes all the way back there and then to the starter. I have an issue with finding neutral before it will start.. Tweak issue on my part as there is some play in my lever.

There is no switch on or around the steering column on the 76.

J






Quote:
Originally Posted by bkahler View Post
Rick,

That switch looks identical to the one that was on the 345 column.

I took a closer look at the wire colors on the connector that I thought was for the neutral safety switch and where I thought the two large wires were blue they are actually purple which is what the wiring diagrams says they should be. Now that I'm certain that section of harness is for the neutral safety switch it should be a piece of cake to modify to suit the new column location.

Now if I could just find time...

Brad
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Old 08-15-2013, 08:26 PM   #190
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bkahler View Post
Rick,

The switch in the photo is from the 1986 345. When I got the Argosy the original 454 engine and transmission had been pulled by some long forgotten PO to use in a stock car

The person I bought it from had installed a 350 with TH400 transmission (but he never got it running). When I got it I yanked the 350 and am building a 454 to go back in with the TH400. I was told the 350 and the TH400 were from a 1-ton dually pickup.

I checked out the wiring in the engine compartment area and didn't see anything that looked like it would go to the transmission. I'm fairly certain the existing transmission doesn't have any connection points other than for the kick-down switch. Which means I'm going to have sort through the wiring and try to match it to the switch that I'll put on the steering column. Since I'm going through all of the wiring anyway it really shouldn't pose a problem.

In the housing that holds the throttle pedal I found the following which I assume is the kickdown switch for the transmission.

I did find this connector which is part of the engine compartment wiring harness. It has two heavy gauge blue wires and two lighter gauge green wires. Any ideas as to what it is supposed to plug into?!

Also, I didn't see anything that looked like the manual transmission clutch safety switch so we can rule out my one theory mentioned previously

Thanks!

Brad
Yes that is the kick down switch. I replaced mine because the trans never seems to downshift by pedal position. Still doesn't work so I manually downshift when going up hills.
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Old 08-16-2013, 01:04 AM   #191
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Yes that is the kick down switch. I replaced mine because the trans never seems to downshift by pedal position. Still doesn't work so I manually downshift when going up hills.
The turbo 400 on my 76 doesn't shift up to the top gear on the highway. Anyone have an idea why? Change filter/oil?
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Old 08-16-2013, 05:12 AM   #192
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The turbo 400 on my 76 doesn't shift up to the top gear on the highway. Anyone have an idea why? Change filter/oil?
Make sure you are in drive. You may laugh at this suggestion, but the linkage on one of my Moho's was so worn out that I had to make sure every time that I was in D and not in 2
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Old 08-16-2013, 09:23 AM   #193
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Make sure you are in drive. You may laugh at this suggestion, but the linkage on one of my Moho's was so worn out that I had to make sure every time that I was in D and not in 2
Peter,

I thought it was just because you liked to take it slow and easy...
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Old 08-16-2013, 09:26 AM   #194
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I have a 76 Argosy/454. The neutral safety switch is in the Turbo 400 transmission. The wiring from the key goes all the way back there and then to the starter. I have an issue with finding neutral before it will start.. Tweak issue on my part as there is some play in my lever.

There is no switch on or around the steering column on the 76.

J
J,

Is that IN the transmission or ON the transmission? Everything I've found so far indicates it should be a bracket with switch somewhere on the side of the transmission.

My transmission is a transplant from a later 1-ton truck and the switch is not present down by the transmission. I'm glad I decided to replace the Argosy steering column with the one from the 1986 345. Now that I have the switch on the column my problem is solved.

Brad
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Old 08-16-2013, 09:29 AM   #195
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Yes that is the kick down switch. I replaced mine because the trans never seems to downshift by pedal position. Still doesn't work so I manually downshift when going up hills.
Have you verified that you have voltage at the solenoid when you push the pedal to the floor? If I understand things correctly when you step on the gas pedal the switch energizes a solenoid inside the transmission which causes it to downshift. You could have a bad connection in the firewall connector, or at the connector on the transmission. You might also check for voltage at the switch itself to make sure the problem isn't between the fuse block and the kickdown switch.

Brad
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Old 08-16-2013, 09:30 AM   #196
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The turbo 400 on my 76 doesn't shift up to the top gear on the highway. Anyone have an idea why? Change filter/oil?
Like Peter said, definitely sounds like a linkage problem.
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Old 08-16-2013, 05:39 PM   #197
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Have you verified that you have voltage at the solenoid when you push the pedal to the floor? If I understand things correctly when you step on the gas pedal the switch energizes a solenoid inside the transmission which causes it to downshift. You could have a bad connection in the firewall connector, or at the connector on the transmission. You might also check for voltage at the switch itself to make sure the problem isn't between the fuse block and the kickdown switch.

Brad
Not yet but I'll give that a try, thx. Hey did you se my posts on towing my Spartan trailer with the Argosy?
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Old 08-17-2013, 07:20 AM   #198
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Early saturday afternoon I prepped the windshield so I could seal it with SIKA Tack MoveIT. You can read all about the adventure here

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Now that the windshield is sealed properly I'll now start getting a little more aggressive towards sealing the roof so I can eliminate the water leaks once and for all.

I have been fighting a leak in the drivers cockpit window that I thought was coming from the glazing on the fixed pane. However yesterday while taping off the edge of the window in preparation for sealing the windshield I noticed that one of the two screws I had used to plug a couple of holes put in the window frame by some PO was loose. These screws were used to hold some mirrors that a PO had installed, presumably to improve his side vision.

The screw is a lose fit in the threads and I'm beginning to think the water was coming in through this hole.

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I'm going to use some stainless pan head screws with copious amounts of vulkem to seal the holes. Hopefully that will solve one of the leaks.

Brad
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Old 08-17-2013, 09:39 AM   #199
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Can you see those holes from the inside? Do the go all the way through? If not some olympic rivets would be nice and clean
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Old 08-17-2013, 04:56 PM   #200
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Can you see those holes from the inside? Do the go all the way through? If not some olympic rivets would be nice and clean
Unfortunately the 1/4" holes are wallowed out enough that the head of an Olympic rivet just barely covers the hole. Also the rivet bottoms out against the middle ridge of the window track.
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