Symptom
Engine will not crank in park or neutral
The starter does nothing in one selector position but works in the other, or works only if the selector is jiggled. Not a starter or battery fault — the vehicle deliberately refuses to crank unless it is certain the transmission is not in gear, and the fault is in the switch that provides that certainty. Worth distinguishing from a general no-crank, since this version has a specific and inexpensive cause.
Also described as: won't start in park, starts in neutral only, no crank in park, have to wiggle the shifter to start, only starts in neutral, won't crank in park, در حالت پارک استارت نمیخورد, در دنده خلاص روشن نمیشود, no arranca punto muerto, no arranca parking, no arranca neutral, لا تدور على وضع الوقوف, ما تشتغل على النيوترال, لا تعمل على البارك
What this usually means
A starter that works in one selector position and not the other has already told you it is healthy, and that is the point of separating this complaint from a general no-crank. The battery, the cables and the starter are all demonstrably fine; what has failed is the circuit that gives the car permission to crank.
That permission exists for a reason worth stating plainly: the vehicle will not turn the engine unless it is certain the transmission cannot drive the wheels. On an automatic the certainty comes from a transmission range switch — the component that also tells the instrument cluster which gear is selected, which is why a car with this fault very often displays the wrong gear as well. That coincidence is the most useful confirmation available and it costs nothing to look for.
On a manual the equivalent is the clutch pedal switch, and on a push-button car the brake pedal switch does the same job. Both are cheap, both are adjustable, and both fail by drifting out of adjustment as often as by breaking.
A selector cable out of adjustment produces the identical symptom without anything having failed electrically — the lever says Park while the transmission sits slightly out of it. The tell is a car that cranks if the lever is jiggled or held, which is worth treating as a finding rather than as a workaround: it means the switch is being asked to work outside the range it was set for.
Working through it
| What you find | Likely cause | How to confirm it | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cranks in neutral but not park, or the reverse | Transmission range switch worn or out of adjustment | Read the switch's live gear position against the lever's actual position. A mismatch in one selector position and not the other is the fault, and the instrument display usually shows the same error. | Adjust the switch to specification, or renew it. Re-check the display agrees afterwards. |
| Cranks only if the lever is jiggled or held to one side | Selector cable adjustment — the lever indicates a gear the transmission is not quite in | Compare the lever position against the position the transmission reports, and check the cable's adjustment at the transmission end. | Adjust the cable to specification. A jiggle that works is not a fix; it is the confirmation. |
| Manual gearbox, no crank however the pedals are used | Clutch pedal switch failed or out of adjustment — the car cannot confirm the clutch is down | Watch the switch's live state while the pedal is pressed fully, and check the plunger contacts the pedal arm as intended. | Adjust or renew the switch. Do not bypass it — it exists to stop the car moving when it is cranked in gear. |
| Push-button start, no crank, brake pedal pressed | Brake pedal switch not confirming the pedal is down | Watch the brake switch live value against the pedal, and check the brake lights, which usually share the switch. Working brake lights with a failed start input points at the second set of contacts. | Renew the switch and adjust it. Many are two switches in one body, so both circuits want checking. |
| Wrong gear shown on the dashboard as well as the no-crank | The range switch is failing, and it feeds both functions | This coincidence is the strongest confirmation available and needs no tool. Corroborate with the live gear position on a scan tool. | Renew or adjust the range switch. Both symptoms should resolve together — if the display is still wrong, the switch was not the whole fault. |
| Cranks in gear as well as in park | The switch has failed closed — a safety failure rather than an inconvenience | Test deliberately and safely, with the vehicle secured. A car that cranks in drive can move under starter power. | Renew the switch before the vehicle is used. This one is urgent even though the car appears to work. |
-
Cranks in neutral but not park, or the reverse
- Likely cause
- Transmission range switch worn or out of adjustment
- How to confirm it
- Read the switch's live gear position against the lever's actual position. A mismatch in one selector position and not the other is the fault, and the instrument display usually shows the same error.
- What fixes it
- Adjust the switch to specification, or renew it. Re-check the display agrees afterwards.
-
Cranks only if the lever is jiggled or held to one side
- Likely cause
- Selector cable adjustment — the lever indicates a gear the transmission is not quite in
- How to confirm it
- Compare the lever position against the position the transmission reports, and check the cable's adjustment at the transmission end.
- What fixes it
- Adjust the cable to specification. A jiggle that works is not a fix; it is the confirmation.
-
Manual gearbox, no crank however the pedals are used
- Likely cause
- Clutch pedal switch failed or out of adjustment — the car cannot confirm the clutch is down
- How to confirm it
- Watch the switch's live state while the pedal is pressed fully, and check the plunger contacts the pedal arm as intended.
- What fixes it
- Adjust or renew the switch. Do not bypass it — it exists to stop the car moving when it is cranked in gear.
-
Push-button start, no crank, brake pedal pressed
- Likely cause
- Brake pedal switch not confirming the pedal is down
- How to confirm it
- Watch the brake switch live value against the pedal, and check the brake lights, which usually share the switch. Working brake lights with a failed start input points at the second set of contacts.
- What fixes it
- Renew the switch and adjust it. Many are two switches in one body, so both circuits want checking.
-
Wrong gear shown on the dashboard as well as the no-crank
- Likely cause
- The range switch is failing, and it feeds both functions
- How to confirm it
- This coincidence is the strongest confirmation available and needs no tool. Corroborate with the live gear position on a scan tool.
- What fixes it
- Renew or adjust the range switch. Both symptoms should resolve together — if the display is still wrong, the switch was not the whole fault.
-
Cranks in gear as well as in park
- Likely cause
- The switch has failed closed — a safety failure rather than an inconvenience
- How to confirm it
- Test deliberately and safely, with the vehicle secured. A car that cranks in drive can move under starter power.
- What fixes it
- Renew the switch before the vehicle is used. This one is urgent even though the car appears to work.
Codes that produce this symptom (22)
Listed with the codes that most typically present this way first — the likeliest place to start.
- P0705 Transmission Range Sensor A Circuit (PRNDL Input) Typical of this code High
- P0817 Starter Disable Circuit/Open Typical of this code High
- P084F Park/Neutral Switch Output Circuit Typical of this code Moderate
- P0850 Park/Neutral Switch Input Circuit Typical of this code Moderate
- P0852 Park/Neutral Switch Input Circuit High Typical of this code Moderate
- P0706 Transmission Range Sensor A Circuit Range/Performance High
- P27EB Transmission Range Control A Position Sensor/Switch Circuit/Open Moderate
- P27EC Transmission Range Control A Position Sensor/Switch Circuit Range/Performance Moderate
- P27ED Transmission Range Control A Position Sensor/Switch Circuit Low Moderate
- P27EE Transmission Range Control A Position Sensor/Switch Circuit High Moderate
- P27EF Transmission Range Control B Position Sensor/Switch Circuit/Open Moderate
- P27F0 Transmission Range Control B Position Sensor/Switch Circuit Range/Performance Moderate
- P27F1 Transmission Range Control B Position Sensor/Switch Circuit Low Moderate
- P27F2 Transmission Range Control B Position Sensor/Switch Circuit High Moderate
- P2801 Transmission Range Sensor B Circuit Range/Performance Moderate
- P2802 Transmission Range Sensor B Circuit Low Moderate
- P2803 Transmission Range Sensor B Circuit High Moderate
- P2804 Transmission Range Sensor B Circuit Intermittent Moderate
- P2805 Transmission Range Sensor A/B Correlation Moderate
- P2806 Transmission Range Sensor Alignment Moderate
- P280A Transmission Range Sensor A Circuit Not Learned Moderate
- P280B Transmission Range Sensor B Circuit Not Learned Moderate
Information, not instruction
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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.
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