So this happened the other day. I had just driven my car the night before but when I went out the next morning to drive it – nothing. No start. I had power. All the lights worked but it would not crank or even give any indication that it wanted to start. No relays clicking.
What the hell! What is going on here?
The first thing I check is the battery and the battery connections. Connections are tight. The next thing I check is the voltage. 12.4 volts on the meter. So obviously it’s not the battery.
Okay, this is not good. Everything was fine the day before. No issues. No intermittent starts. I am almost certain it is not the starter because it is brand new. Also, the battery is brand new, so I can eliminate those two components right away. The only other causes would be a fuse or relay or worse – wiring.
So I start with the easiest and most likely. The fuses.
Nope. All the fuses check good.
Okay. So maybe it’s a relay. The only relay in the system that could cause a no-start is the starter interlock relay.
I pull the relay and check for any obvious damage or corrosion. It looks to be fine. But fortunate for me, I have a spare relay so I swap it out and hope for the best. Nothing.
Limp Mode
There was one other problem that I was having that was intermittent. On occasion, my transmission would go into limp mode when I would start the car and put it into reverse to back out of the driveway. This would usually happen first thing in the morning, but all I had to do to clear it was turn the ignition off and restart the car. Which it did and it would be fine after.
P0706 Transmission Range Sensor “A” Circuit Range/Performance
Finally, it dawned on me. There is something else telling the car not to start. A safety switch – possibly. So I pulled the codes from my OBDeleven to see if I had any trouble codes and there it was. The P0706 trouble code. That has got to be it. I guess it finally failed completely.
Luckily this is an easy part to replace and I was able to source a part cheap. I found a suitable part on Amazon of all places for around 30 dollars and it was available as a prime option so I would get the part in about two days. Score!
The part in total took about an hour to replace from start to finish.
Once installed I cleared the trouble code and just like that it started. Success!