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2001 civic automatic transmission I had the car inspected and they suggested the neutral safety switch was bad. However, after replacing the NSS the car still starts while in gear. Any suggestions to fix this issue?

 
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why are you putting in gear in a parked car before starting? especially an auto...

 
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sorry I wasn’t very clear in my original post. I live in Maryland where you need to have your car safety inspected and that is something they check for. I’ve never heard of it and never would have thought to check before I bought the car…

 
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did you do the work or somebody else? Any issues in contacts or wiring? Thanks for clarifying, BTW

 
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Every gear? Or only park, neutral, and one additional gear?

 
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So I just got the car back from the shop. It does indeed start in every gear. The shop said I would have to take it to the dealer since it appears the prior owner did ‘something weird’ with the wiring. I’m not an expert in any means and was just curious if any of you know like any common things that could cause this issue. I could find someone local to do the work I just want to know what to ask for I guess lol

 
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Is there anything I can do to prevent the car from starting in gear I just need it to pass inspection

 
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Found this on a different forum:

"Most automatic transmissions are equipped with a NSS (neutral safety switch). All that does is making an open circuit to the starter motor relay so you can't start. However, you can bypass this by jumping the starter motor relay with a wire and supplying a 12v positive to engage this relay."

I'm wondering if this has occurred to yours. Could be because the transmission is/was difficult to shift into park for whatever reason. Don't think this will solve anything, but I'm just trying to hypothesize a very strange situation.

 
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Have a look at the wiring

 
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Okay I think I know what happened. Spoke with the guy I bought the car from and it seems like the engine was replaced recently (It looks way too new to be from 2001) So the NSS probably was bad and they bypassed it to get the car to start (no safety inspection in the state I bought it in). If I knew how the wiring was supposed to look, like a schematic or something I could probably fix it. Or at least find someone who can. I think the shop I took it to just doesn’t want to get involved in something they aren’t 100% sure about. If any one has any leads to someone that knows about the wiring for this car I’d appreciate any links you can find. Thank you for your input guys!

 
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do you know if there is something available online that shows how the wiring should be set up?

 
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this post have most of the info on what to look for...

 
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thank you I must have overlooked that post

 
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What gives you that impression? If it was replaced, it was almost certainly with another used engine, likely still from that 2001-2005 range.