Explorer won't crank over at times

[papastoyss]

My sister-in-law has a 99' ford Explorer, v6,auto, that has an intermittent no crank over problem. Starter has been replaced twice, last time w/new not reman.I've checked & cleaned the battery & cables, alternator output is above 14v, this am cold was 14.9v. Solenoid on this model is on starter, not fenderwell. There is a switch ,,on the trans that looks like it may be a neutral safety switch, is it known to be problematic or any other known problems? I'm just trying to help her out, she has helped us out plenty during my wife & my rough 2021.

[chimp koose]

We have a v6 ford ranger  a 98 . I have had this problem before and it was the shifter not going all the way to park to activate the neutral safety switch . My fix was to snug up the bolts that hold the cable shifter assembly by the steering column . I actually found one bolt on the DS floor when mine got bad enough not to shift into P and would stay in reverse . The bracket was loose enough not to travel all the way to P . When I looked up to see where the bolt belonged I noticed it missing from the bracket . Dumb luck diagnosis on that one !

[kb426]

This is the list of items I would check: the actual switch that is mounted on the steering column. If the push rod is out of adjustment, it could be a source. However if it's about wear on the tumbler and push rod, I would think it would do it everytime, not sporadic.  There is a chance that the ignition switch has wore enough to give erratic operation. To check the neutral safety switch, I would do a voltage check in neutral as well as park to see if one position is wore out. The closest manual I have is for a 96 mustang. The 2 wires of importance are a red/ light blue and a white/ pink configuration. Those 2 alternate through the system as they pass through switches. The power panel under the hood passes power to a yellow wire to the starter relay which sends power through a white/ pink wire on the solenoid. That vehicle also has anti-theft so it might be causing some problems. Because it has had multiple starters, I would look for bad connections or a switch that has wear. Sorry I'm not more help.

[jaybee]

I had a Windstar van which wore through the wire to the brake interlock switch on the pedal. It would ground out and prevent the starter from engaging.

[58 Yeoman]

2005 Ranger had intermittent start, and turned out to be starter relay in the relay/fuse box under the dash.  I also cleaned the engine/body grounds.

[chimp koose]

Papastoys , did you ever find out what the problem was ?