Yes you could but it has a neutral safety switch for a reason.
the idle should be about 900 RPM in park or neutral.
underneath the steering column. it will have leads running from it to the firewall as well as to the shifter
It is located on the Trans Case
get a test light and see if there is juice going into the switch and juice coming out of it.
maybe in the steering column
you PROBABLY have a defective park/neutral safety switch
find the neutral safety switch which is commonly located somewhere on the interior of the car near the steering shaft or on the transmission
The switch is located on the steering column right before it exits the cab.
It sounds as though your safety neutral switch has to be adjusted. It has an adjustment kind of like screw that you can adjust. I suggest having someone that knows what they are looking for on it to do it. I had my safety neutral switch replaced and it did the same thing until I took it back and they re-adjusted it.
There are Two one in the steering column and one on the trans shifter link.
the neutral safety switch is located in the steering column,not on the trans.it is part of the switch that the main plug on the column plugs into.
The neutral safety switch on a 1997 Ford Escort is located inside the steering column. It prevents the engine from being started while in gear.