Hi

I have a intermittent no starting problem, I have narrowed it down to what I think is the park, neutral, backup light switch in the tranny. How would I go about fixing this problem? I read that it's not as simple as just pulling the old switch out and putting a new one in, there is something in the tranny that needs to be adjusted. I'm not sure what to do, any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

I have a 1999 Grand Caravan, 3.3 engine, 4 speed tranny.

 

Hi

I made a mistake in my description of my tranny, its not a 3 speed its a 4 speed, I don't know why I thought it was a 3 speed.

 

The range switch is inside the transmission on top of the valve body. A couple things you can try:

1) Disconnect the negative battery cable, then unplug the wiring harness for the transmission and inspect for corrosion and loose terminals. Clean if needed, then apply a thin film of dielectric grease to the female side before reconnecting.

2) Adjust the shift cable. With the van in park and the key off, remove the shifter cable from the lever on the transmission. Inspect the eyelet of the cable for wear and repair/replace as needed (not sure if some kind of bushing repair kit is available or not). Pull the lever on the trans forward to make sure it’s seated in the park position and then reinstall the cable.

Check for proper operation. If it’s still intermittent, try wiggling the shifter lever as you try to start it. If it does start while doing so, you may need to replace the range sensor, but that would require further diagnostics to determine if that’s the actual problem.

 

Hi

A little up date, the van is now not wanting to start in park or neutral. Can a bad Neutral Safety Switch / TRS (Transmission Range Switch) cause the starter to go bad.

 

Hi,

To anyone that has to replace the Neutral safety switch / TRS ( transmission Range Sensor ) on a 41TE transmission, here is a link to the instructions on how to do it.

Neutral safety switch/TRS (Transmission Range Switch) replacment

 

No. If the switch is faulty (or if there’s a problem with related wiring), the PCM will not ground the starter relay (engine bay fuse block) if it doesn’t receive a signal from the range switch. Without the PCM ground, the starter relay doesn’t close and voltage isn’t getting to the starter solenoid to allow engagement and cranking.

So did you end up replacing the range sensor and did it fix the problem?