1985 Ford F150 won't start after transmission change

[Darlin9694]

I have a 1985 Ford F150. The automatic transmission went out. It was running fine when that happened. It sat for several years but was occaisionally started with no problems. My husband recently put in a different transmission and now it won't start at all. He said the steering column is also a little loose and the last time he got it started he had to wiggle the gear shift to get it to start. He is thinking the problem is something electrical but I am thinking it has to do with the transmission not being lined up right so even though it says park...it is not all the way in park...What do you guys think?

[Darlin9694]

I should add that he put a new battery in it and when he turns the ignition, the seat belt thing dings and the dash lights come on but doesn't do anything when trying to start.

[FlipFlop]

Assuming this has a column shifter, the fact is loose may be affecting the shift cable. If the shift cable is not moving fully into Park then the engine will not start. This could also be a problem with what is called a neutral safety switch. This switch allows engine starting only when the shifter is in part or neutral. Which brings us back to the fact that the steering column is loose. A loose column can cause the neutral safety switch to not be in the proper range. Or the neutral safety switch can just be faulty itself. Try putting the shifter in neutral, turn the key on and moving the shifter just a little bit. If it starts when doing this, the first thing you need to do is repair those column. After the car was tight, if it still is acting up then I would suspect neutral safety switch is either bad or miss adjusted.