MaxRX7 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Sometimes randomly I'll turn the key and get nothing (no clicks, engine turning over, etc.) other than the usual dash lights. What I've noticed is that if I jiggle the auto transmission lever back and forth a few times it then would crank. Before I start ripping into my truck, has this happened to anyone or makes sense? I'm assuming there will be some wire or related from this area to the ignition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Sometimes randomly I'll turn the key and get nothing (no clicks, engine turning over, etc.) other than the usual dash lights. What I've noticed is that if I jiggle the auto transmission lever back and forth a few times it then would crank. Before I start ripping into my truck, has this happened to anyone or makes sense? I'm assuming there will be some wire or related from this area to the ignition? check all your connections to the trans underneath, you may have a loose/dirty connection down there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 I know when I am in D my light on the dash will come and go like whatever triggers the light is out of adjustment. Never had my truck not start though. It might be as simple as your starter solenoid is about toast and you bumping the shifter has nothing to do with it at all, just the retrying of the ignition kicks the starter into working. That was how mine acted at first when the starter went. It wouldn't do anything when you turn the key but light up the idiot lights. Turn the key off and back on and it would crank. As for shift-lock, that is a different thing, it keeps the tranny from being moved out of P without the brake pedal being depressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfisch1191 Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 that is what happened to me i have been having all sorts of problems with my starter working not working. and i just got pissed off and whent in and out of park and all threw the gears and i whent to start it and wham it started right up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 (edited) there's a interlock switch in the stick that is your interlock for park...I would probably guess that the metal pushtab snapped or is almost worn out causing it to not make contact all the time when its in park...you can cut it and splice those wires together or replace it...but if you do cut the wires and splice them together it will start in any gear... just pulled out the FSM...its called the "inhibitor relay with or without ASCD (cruise)" item 8w is without and 9w is with...heres an image from the FSM...I circled the relays (not sure where they are located exactly) but the switch is on the shifter somewhere in there...its a lil box with a toggle lever its prob about 1" x 1/8" 1/4" in size...for my swap to work i just taped that bad boy so it contacts all the time (i used an auto harness in MT) Edited August 16, 2007 by unccpathfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 yeah rx7, you really ought to give us more info next time.. i fixed some so we'll all know what year your truck is. lol and yeah, there is a switch in the ATs that won't let it start in any gear. it should start in N w/o problem though. next few times just move your shifter to N and then try it.. if it fires most of the time then that switch is the cuplrit. i said most because sometimes even in N that switch could be active. gently! move the shifter around, just little, w/o going out of N.. if it fires after you tweaked it then see 3rd sentence back. the wiring diagram clearly shows the inhibitor switch in proximity to the shifter (below the black arrow in the upper right corner) and i bet that if any of this is actually the cause then it's the switch itself and not the relay. the switch is way more prone to wearing out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teknogaeque Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 yeah rx7, you really ought to give us more info next time.. i fixed some so we'll all know what year your truck is. lol and yeah, there is a switch in the ATs that won't let it start in any gear. it should start in N w/o problem though. next few times just move your shifter to N and then try it.. if it fires most of the time then that switch is the cuplrit. i said most because sometimes even in N that switch could be active. gently! move the shifter around, just little, w/o going out of N.. if it fires after you tweaked it then see 3rd sentence back. the wiring diagram clearly shows the inhibitor switch in proximity to the shifter (below the black arrow in the upper right corner) and i bet that if any of this is actually the cause then it's the switch itself and not the relay. the switch is way more prone to wearing out. There's another electrical problem that seems to play in with starting issues. My 86.5 Hardbody pickup has been misbehaving, and I ended up switching parts between it and the 94 Pathfinder to isolate what was going on. In the end, the Inhibitor Relay (8W or 9W in the previous picture) was the culprit. When it fails, insufficient (voltage? current?) flows to the starter solenoid, so a lot of problems will be intermittent starts that have people chasing down all kinds of stuff. Some bypass the clutch switch, some bypass the relays altogether. I ended up swapping the relay between the truck and Pathy. The truck started great, and a few days later, the Pathy failed to start. Just once, but that was enough for me. I replaced the part (Nissan P/N 25230-89981) today, and I'm going to keep my eyes on it. It's the same part from 86.5 through 95, and possibly even more vehicles. I posted more detail as I worked on this (because it was my Hardbody pickup, not my Pathy) here. Oh crud... Now I've actually posted here rather than just lurking... Shame on me; time to go fill out an entry in the New Members forum... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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