Here are my issues:
- Car won't start in park (yes I know, neutral safety switch). The little box doesn't light up around the "P" anymore.
- My check engine light is NOT on (I'm not sure if this indicates that it's NOT the neutral safety switch? Or does it not necessarily have to throw a code in order for it to be that?).
- Twice this week I've put it it into park and it's continued to lurch forward (not really a roll, but kind of -jerk- -catch- -jerk-). I don't know how long it would continue to do that before stopping (or if it even would!!). I know that there is a normal roll forward when put into park, but this is different, and very unsettling. I always put the parking brake on as a precaution anyway because of the fact that it "doesn't register" that it's in park.
- Yesterday morning I had difficulty getting my car out of "manual mode" and into drive. Today I am having problems going from neutral to drive (and vice versa). I can hear something clicking when I try to change gears. This tells me that it's a mechanical issue and not an electrical one (although maybe I have a medley of problems). I took apart my center console tonight and sprayed around on the cables and some plastic switches. This did NOT help. The car guru fiance had a look, and he noticed that down under the shifter (under where drive would be) there is a little brass colored ball. Would this have anything to do with it? What does that ball do?
I'm trying to get a better understanding of what's going on before I take it to a mechanic and pour lots of money into something that has the potential to be a DIY fix. Plus they already threatened to fail my inspection because it only starts in neutral.
I drive my car in manual mode about 80% of the time. Could it be that I broke something, or that it's getting too worn out? The car has 105k, so maybe this is just normal wear and tear, but what do I need to fix?!
Thanks.
- Car won't start in park (yes I know, neutral safety switch). The little box doesn't light up around the "P" anymore.
- My check engine light is NOT on (I'm not sure if this indicates that it's NOT the neutral safety switch? Or does it not necessarily have to throw a code in order for it to be that?).
- Twice this week I've put it it into park and it's continued to lurch forward (not really a roll, but kind of -jerk- -catch- -jerk-). I don't know how long it would continue to do that before stopping (or if it even would!!). I know that there is a normal roll forward when put into park, but this is different, and very unsettling. I always put the parking brake on as a precaution anyway because of the fact that it "doesn't register" that it's in park.
- Yesterday morning I had difficulty getting my car out of "manual mode" and into drive. Today I am having problems going from neutral to drive (and vice versa). I can hear something clicking when I try to change gears. This tells me that it's a mechanical issue and not an electrical one (although maybe I have a medley of problems). I took apart my center console tonight and sprayed around on the cables and some plastic switches. This did NOT help. The car guru fiance had a look, and he noticed that down under the shifter (under where drive would be) there is a little brass colored ball. Would this have anything to do with it? What does that ball do?
I'm trying to get a better understanding of what's going on before I take it to a mechanic and pour lots of money into something that has the potential to be a DIY fix. Plus they already threatened to fail my inspection because it only starts in neutral.
I drive my car in manual mode about 80% of the time. Could it be that I broke something, or that it's getting too worn out? The car has 105k, so maybe this is just normal wear and tear, but what do I need to fix?!
Thanks.
