78 K20 auto can't shut off truck in neutral

[78 k20 8,400 gvrw]

So I've been lurking around your forums for a while now and found a lot of good advice on here so I'm hoping to get some more. I tried searching this and found nothing. I can't get my truck to shut off in neutral.
I'm fairly familiar with the Chevy steering column and have the lock plate tool to disassemble the column, but I'm not sure what I need to do to get rid of the park lockout that's preventing me from shutting it off in neutral.

[Marshy]

Interesting issue. Can you shut it off while in D? What benefit is there shutting it off in N?

[78 k20 8,400 gvrw]

i cant shut the engine off in any other position than park. benifit of being able to shut off in neutral? welll the simple fact i have a twin stick part time np203 that on ocassion when shifting out of diff lock high will nock my transfer case into nuetral. at that point if im in neutral in the transmission with thte engine running i have to get under the hood and unplug the coil so i can shift it in to gear again.
its quite irritating and i can see no possible reson you shouldnt be abe to shut you motor off in neutral.

[Marshy]

Sounds like it would be easier to just put the trans it into park and shut it off but maybe I don't fully understand. You can shift it into park still when that happens right?

[78 k20 8,400 gvrw]

You could throw it into park of you don't mind listening to your parking pawl grinding itself down.

[Marshy]

Why? Is the trans spinning in reverse when passing into park because there is no resistance from the drive train?

[78 k20 8,400 gvrw]

When the transfer case is in neutral even with the trans in neutral it will spin the internals to where no matter what you do your going to grind gears unless you can shut the motor off and let everything stop spinning.

And besides if I want to shut my motor off I want to shut it off regardless if I'm in gear or not.

[cadillac_al]

You should be able to shut it off in any gear. Is your key not moving to the off position? It should be. I have never heard of this problem before. It must be in the keyswitch.

[78 k20 8,400 gvrw]

I agree its weird I've never come across this before. The key is being physicaly being blocked from turning off. I have a couple lock cylinders, not sure I've got keys for them though.
I guess its time to tear down the steering column and figure this out.

[78 k20 8,400 gvrw]

Well I decided that I'm not going to tear into the column just yet since I've got other issues that need my attention more right at the moment.
I've decided to put a kill switch in under the dash, serves Two purposes that way. First it will fix the original problem and second is anti theft.

[franken]

Strange. If memory serves, you should be able to shut the engine off, but not bring the key to the normal off position, which would engage the column lock.
Thus if the engine runs away, you can shut it off and still steer.

[78 k20 8,400 gvrw]

Originally Posted by franken

Strange. If memory serves, you should be able to shut the engine off, but not bring the key to the normal off position, which would engage the column lock.
Thus if the engine runs away, you can shut it off and still steer.

I believe you are correct, maybe the lock that keeps the key from going all the back is catching keeping it from shutting the engine off. There was a couple times that I was able to force the key back and shut the motor off, but it was hard to do and it only worked twice.