Engine starts when in gear

[ragman]

Hi Guys

Recently my engine can be startedwhilst in gear, obviously a very dangerous situation. I change the key switch panel but still the same, is there a sensor in the gear box? That I did not notice that perhaps got damaged??

Any advise would be most appreciated in this dangerous situation.

Thank you all
Ragman

[jprohan]

What is the engine? My Cummins had a remote safety switch on the engine itself. It may even be a simple cable adjustment.

[jleonard]

The neutral safety switch is usually on the transmission. Look in the area where the cable attaches to the shifting lever. There should be a "thing" with 2 wires attached.
Yes it could be an adjustment (most likely).
It could be a faulty switch (less likely).
It could be a shorted/grounded wire (less likely).

[ragman]

Hi Jleonard

I am running a 31' Albin with a Cummins 450C and you are most likely right that it is a neutral safety switch problem. I am gonna check that switch this morning.

This is an important topic that all Cummins owner should know. Afriend of mine had his switch struck in the "open" position and could not start up. He is a pro however and took out the 2 wire and joint them together effectively bypassing the circuit. It would not occurred to me to do so in a similar situation, I’ll be looking at my key switch & starter system. Wrong end of the elephant for me in this case.

let you all know the results in a day or so.

Thank you all
Ragman

[jleonard]

Hi Jleonard


This is an important topic that all Cummins owner should know. Afriend of mine had his switch struck in the "open" position and could not start up. He is a pro however and took out the 2 wire and joint them together effectively bypassing the circuit. It would not occurred to me to do so in a similar situation, I’ll be looking at my key switch & starter system. Wrong end of the elephant for me in this case.
Ragman

That is not a Cummins specific issue. Most boats are set up that way.

That said, mine never came with a neutral safety switch. It can be started in gear.

[Serenity]

Back in the day, I had a Luhrs with a Perkins diesel with no safety neutral switch. One day after changing the oil, I thought I was in neutral, started her up and wham she hit the bulkhead behind me. Amazing, how strong the transom is on a 74 28 foot luhrs.

[tbnolin]

No safety switch on mine either...I was warned the day we went for the sea trial....been reeeeal careful ever since!

[ragman]

Hi Guys

I try to look for wires coming out a neutral safety switch but found none. There is a mechanical neutral safety switch which the local ZF people ( excellent follow ups) gave me and dismantle and it’s working fine.

I can’t figure out how when there is no wiring to the Cummins harness/switch, there is also no neutral switch in the throttle too, how then did it function all these years till recently?? Any thoughts would be highly appreciated, it driving me pretty up the wall.

Thank in advance for any insights
Ragman

[papafu]

Don't leave home without a fully operational neutral safety switch.

[marko]

I have twin Cummins 330's and a few months ago while a mechanic was working on the engines, he had me go fire one up. Did so at the lower helm, both throttles in neutral and immediately the boat went forward in the slip. He's yelling, I raced back to shut it off. Luckily the lines held fine. Ran to the upper helm and sure enough, the throttles had been bumped while under the weather cover. I have Micro Commander controls, which I think were not turned on at the electric panel (but can't swear to it now). So since then, I check both helms before starting, even with the control breakers off. Humm? I'd better do more investigating in light of the above.

[ragman]

Wow Marko This sound V dangerous, many nasty things can happen. That is why i am seeking to solve my problem ASAP. Hope you fix your problem too.

Safe boating mate
Ragman

[ragman]

Hi Guys

The Cummins guys finally turn up on after a month and after some clever checking, confirm that i have a neutral saftey switch that was never connected all these years. After taking out the engine harness inlet, we found that the albin guys(likely) by pass the safety circuit with a short yellow and red cable. It was just a tiny loop of 1 1/2" and can't be seem till you dismantle the harness plug.

SO i'll having been living without this critcal function for some some 15 yrs but having never bump my throttle stick into gear and guess careful enough to always start in neutral, never discover this problem. Turn out the neutral switch was faulty and they by pass the circuit in order to deliver the boat I guess. It took 2 hrs of diagnostics by experienced tech to sort this out, so finally need to order new switch and rewire the circuit, hopefully it’ll solve this problem.

I will keep you all posted in couple of week when the part coming in from italy and is wired up properly.

Safe boating all
Ragman