hello..newb here and totally having a hate issue with my car. I started having intermittent starting problems with it. I could drive somewhere, park... run errands.. then when I go to start it nothing. the gauges swing but no start, no crank, nothing as though ignition kill was on. no console message. I took it to the shop and they announced "It surely is your starter relay!". they replaced that. I got it started, home, to work... dead. towed it back... and they announced 'AH! a TSB that we missed! it surely is the terminals on the starter relay!'. they did something... I got it home... to work... dead. towed it back. they were totally perplexed. it still isn't showing codes but they played with it for a couple days. they told me 'we could start it 50 to 100 times with no problem but then it wont start again. it's GOTTA be the fuse box in the engine compartment!'. so they replaced it...and..... it died again before I could get it back.
so.. I get a call 'we finally got a code! it's the park / neutral safety switch (module) that is bad. youll have to take it to a transmission shop coz we cant fix it. oh and we put back your fuse box. no charge of course.' as though that would make me feel better. I call the trans shop and the guy was just really bummed out. he told me:
-to get at the p/n switch you have to completely dismantle the transmission which cost over 1200 dollars
- he said in all his years he has never experienced a p/n safety switch fail...though it could happen.
- if I knew someone (I don't) I could bypass it for a couple hundred bucks but finding someone would be hard due to liability risks.
he felt bad that if it is this he would have to charge so much... and pointed me to an electrical guy who basically said the same thing. he doubted it was the issue but it could be. unless I can tow it to him in the error state he cant say for certain. if it is, he might do a bypass but is reluctant. I would sign anything to release him from liability just to not have to buy a new car. this is not worth the money since the car has already been hit by a drunk driver and is at best worth 3k.
the garage I first took it to said it was a p1819 code.
P1819 Internal Mode
Switch No start
Wrong range
U1000 Class 2 data link fault
Neutral safety switch
Showing 3 gear
Park: IMS range A LO, IMS Range P LO, B,C HI
Drive 4 IMS Range B,C,LOW, A, P HI
On the most recent dead car event I tried leaving car in acc and slowly shifting through all the gears. then I went back to N... tried to start..nothing. I went back to P.. the car rolled backwards just a little on the inclined road... tried to start and tada! it started so it sounds like a p/n issue ... maybe? it seems to be totally random but happens more when the car has been running for awhile and hot.
is there a way to put a push button or switch inside the car to require a deliberate act on the drivers part to bypass this 'safety feature' and allow me to start it in any gear?
does the above really sound like a p/n issue? I really cant afford to buy another car or spend a lot on more needless repairs.
any help would be appreciated. I cant afford to have another shop play guessing games and charge me for stuff that doesn't fix an issue.
thank you....
