[twoliterlover]

I may be an expert on the old 102/2000 cars, but these 164's are too full of electrical circuity. Are there some parts that wear out on the shift indicator linkage of automatic transmission 164 cars? On both my daily beater (164 auto B) and my wife's Auto LS we sometimes cannot get the starter circuit to activate unless we wiggle the shift lever a bit (well, actually a lot) either in Park or in neutral. If the lever is not in the exact right place, turning the key produces nothing, well -- at least no starter engagement because the lights, etc do sometimes turn on. It is almost as if there is a tiny specific "go" location in the middle of a huge "no-go" area. What needs to be done? I am tempted to hiit something with a bigger hammer. I refuse to believe an Alfa can wear out at barely 200,000 miles. My old 1959 two liter spider has been running for more than 50 years (most of the time). Is there a simple switch some place involved that might be easily replaced, or must some big parts be replaced that are too worn? Pretend you are explaining the way to fix this problem in simple words to your grandson so he can understand.
Jay Nuxoll in Seattle.

 

[Alfisto Steve]

P-N start switch is on right side of A/T lever and is adjustable. It also has springy flat blade contacts that have to mate with contacts on side of lever. They can get dirty and loose tension..

Remove rear ash tray, remove console holding screws under ash tray, pull up parking lever, put shifter in L, pull t-handle off shifter. Now slide console rearward and lift up front of console so you can clean and adjust P-N switch. Use some dielectric grease on contacts.

You may have to loosen 13mm adjusting nut on PL cable with 13mm 1/4" drive socket with universal joint anf 6" extension on ratchet to get lever up enough to lift front of console enough.

Be sure you hook back up green light sockets if they pull out of P-R-N-D indicators and cigar lighter if they come out.

Report your successful completion of process.