2005, TL automatic

So ill try to explain this without being confusing, here we go.

so the other night i went for a run at the park. Car has been totally fine lately, so nothing was wrong leading up to this. I came back to the car after probably 30 minutes. Get in, put key in ignition, everything turns on and lights up like usual, go to turn the key, and nothing. Do it a few more times, same result. Single clicking noise when you turn the key, but thats it.

So i do some googling, saw something about the car not recognizing its in park. So I wiggle the shifter, put it in neutral,park, neutral park... after a few times, car starts up like normal. Later that night i go to the garage to see if it starts, it does, first try. Next morning for work, lunch, way back from lunch... all start perfect, first try.

That night leaving work, does it again, this time for half an hour. This time I went under the hood and started checking connections everywhere I could see, nothing seemed array. After a while I was doing the neutral park neutral park thing for a couple minutes and bam it starts.

next morning i remember, hey i have remote start (geek squad probably 5 years ago, never had an issue). My logic, well if the chip in the key is going bad, or something with the ignition, this would bypass it. (those were a few of the problems people suggested). So Saturday morning, remote start, first try, starts. Come home later, same thing, perfect.

Later that night, nothing... i had to get somewhere so i was trying for over half an hour. Disconnected the battery, pulled fuses, neutral park thing, remote start, nothing.

And this is where I am now. I must have drained the battery Saturday night from so many failed attempts, so yesterday the battery was almost dead. I charged the battery up, and now my console screen (for radio and whatnot) says "CODE" on it. Which is new to me as well. May be from disconnecting the battery, but i don't have any new idiot lights on either.

its looking like I'm going to have to tow it to the dealer today or tomorrow, which is the last thing i want to do.

 

CODE is just the anti theft code for the radio. Find your documentation and plug it in and you're good.


Does it start now? If so great, if not get a new battery and find the code and input it and you should be good.

 

Sounds like it could be your park neutral switch. There is a chance it is your starter. The only way to tell would be to put a tester or probe on the starter exciter wire to see if its getting power when your turning the key and nothing happens. Given that it works after messing with the shifter, my guess is park neutral switch. Theres youtube videos on how to change that out. Theres a possibility your battery was low as well, but not likely considering it eventually starts. You can have a parts shop put a tester on it. Disconnecting your battery will reset your radio, so thats why it displays code. Hopefully you have the code still.

 

thanks for the reply. I agree about the starter, the fact that it has started intermittently perfectly fine tells me that should be the issue. Its probably a sensor or connection somewhere. Because when its started in between, it was full power and totally functional. Something is telling it not to start.

is there any way to test the park neutral switch rather then changing it out?

Hopefully I can find the radio code. I have most of the original documentation, where is that usually at?

 

also, is the "park neutral switch" the same as this? "gear position sensor"?

https://acurazine.com/forums/third-g...switch-892223/

 

Yes, it is.

Gear position sensor could be out of alignment (put the car to "ON", don't start it) and see if the indicator say's you're in P on the gauge.

 

ok the code reset was easy, car still wont start obviously. sensor is not out of alignment either, it indicates all of the correct gears on the dash

 

I say starter. You had stated you heard a click when you tried turning the key to start position, so chances are it was the noise coming from the starter. If the neutral safety switch were bad, there would be no clicking noise from under the hood. Bad neutral safety switch would be the same as trying to start the car when in D, no noise.
Starters are famous for giving some advanced notice before it quits completely, but you can always try hitting the starter or even jump the terminals on the solenoid/starter, with the key off to see where the problem might be.

 

If you are able to. Remove the starter and test it on the floor by applying 12v to it.

This is a video i used as a guide to test mine when I had a starting issue.

my problem ended up being a broken positive battery cable.

It may not be your issue but this is something I encountered which prevented my car from starting.