P0512: Starter Request Circuit
What to do
May be intermittent, and may leave the car refusing to crank. Before assuming a starter fault, try starting with the gear selector in neutral rather than park, and press the clutch fully — if that works, the fault is in the switch chain rather than the starter.
What this code means
A fault in the circuit carrying the request to crank the engine. On modern vehicles the ignition switch or start button does not power the starter directly — it asks a module, which checks the gear selector position, clutch or brake pedal, and immobiliser status before energising the starter relay.
That chain is why a no-crank fault can have nothing to do with the starter. A clutch switch that has stopped closing, or a gear selector that no longer reports park, prevents the request from ever being made — and the starter, battery and solenoid are all perfectly healthy.
Likely causes
Start here
- Faulty clutch or neutral safety switch · moderate
- Corroded or loose connector · easy
Less common
- Faulty ignition switch · moderate
- Failed starter relay · easy
- Broken wire in control circuit · moderate
Symptoms
Components involved
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
Community experience
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