260 Stuck at the body shop!

[Zs-ondabrain]

If they pulled the carpet, they probably thought that THEY unplugged the connections on the seat and the seatbelt. So they reconnected them for you, not knowing that this will cause the interlock to activate.

Unplug the seatbelt connections and the drivers seat connection. This should allow the car to start. By the way, was the person starting the car "In the drivers seat" and was he buckled up with the seatbelt? If he wasn't buckled, and the connector is plugged in, it wouldn't start.

Let us know what you find.

Dave

[rivrplay]

Problem solved...it was the seat belt interlock. Un-plugged the under seat connections and it cranked right up. Everyone here is awesome! Thanks so much for the help.

Now that it runs though it kinda bothers me that I have disconnected wires under there. How can I reconnect everything and not have this problem?

[sblake01]

Perhaps if you bridged the wires on the red interlock button (on the fenderwell, in front of the battery), you could reconnect the wires under the seat because the system would then be overridden.

[SteveJ]

What do you want to reconnect? The seatbelt interlock was about the most inane government safety idea foisted upon the automotive industry in the 70s. IIRC, it didn't even last the full 1974 model year when it was implemented.

From looking at pages EE-13 and BE-91 in the FSM, I think the red lines in the attached picture show what should be jumpered out to bypass the interlocks. Dave, feel free to correct me.

Steve

[ZCurves]

The black thing in your picture is your seat belt interlock relay. The other thing is your fusible links - the cover just pops off. When you took the seats out, did you notice some wires plugged into the seats on the floor? There is a pressure sensor on the bottom of the seats that plug into those wires. I wonder if that is what is stopping you? I just unplugged them the 1st day I owned my Z and they never presented a problem afterward.

There should be a red push button thing that was mounted on the firewall that was supposed to be an override. Worked sometimes. Its mounted between the battery and the strut tower.

I was checking out this thread and saw oldhemi, pop this one out. I love it when one of us has an issue and another dude drops the answer like that. BAM - problem solved.

[torker]

That is awesome. I had the same problem and installed a push button start for my son. I would never have thought that a car this old would have that type of interlock.:stupid: I just assumed after checking all connections that it was a weak ign. switch...

[Zs-ondabrain]

So I was right, Steve, you're correct as well but I can't remember the wire colors.

but like I said, they plugged in wires, not knowing that they were intentionally unplugged.

No big deal, you figured it out. I completely TORE OUT the interlock and rewired EVERYTHING. I'm in the middle of a complete ground up rebuild so I had that option available to me. Yours however, is a driver, mine is a spot on the garage floor.

Dave

[oldhemi]

Looks like several of have "been there". But, I was thinking :stupid:, if one still has a working interlock system and know its workings, this might be a cheap theft deterrent. Most thieves have never seen this less-than-one year deal. I know that I would never hook it up again seeing as it has been nearly 36 years since I unhooked it.

I might tear it all out to clean up some more firewall crap, extraneous wiring etc. And think of the weight savings! Hmmm, add this to all of the weight I plan on saving in getting rid of the bumper impact mounts and I would have -um- about the same weight savings as removing the impact bumper mounts.

New vehicles of any sort dont come with this POS system do they?

[SteveJ]

New vehicles of any sort dont come with this POS system do they?

Well, do you want to count the systems that require us to disengage the clutch before starting the car or press the brake to shift out of park? Those are great for the mindless masses. What about all of the airbag sensors throughout the cars? How about airbags themselves? There's nothing like having an explosive device mounted near your head.