2000 Chrysler Town and Country inhibitor switch

Tiny
CHARLIE1964
  • MEMBER
  • 2000 CHRYSLER TOWN AND COUNTRY
  • 210,000 MILES
Hi, I bought a chrylser voyager and it has dash lights but the motor wont turn over, I was told the auto was no good and the car doesnt recognise its in park and I was told it could be the inhibitor switch but I cant even find it on the engine.
Saturday, July 20th, 2013 AT 11:19 PM

18 Replies

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,858 POSTS
There is no such switch. What are the symptoms? Do the head lights or interior lights get dim or go out when you try to crank the engine? Do you hear a single rather loud clunk from the starter each time you turn the ignition switch to "crank"? Have you tried starting it in neutral?
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
CHARLIE1964
  • MEMBER
  • 13 POSTS
Hi, no the lights dont do dim and no sounds at all coming from the starter, ive tried starting in neutral and park but nothing :/
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
CHARLIE1964
  • MEMBER
  • 13 POSTS
Dont go dim ****
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,858 POSTS
Look for a starter relay under the hood in the fuse box. Remove it and jump terminals 30 to 87 with a stretched-out paper clip or piece of wire. Be sure it's in park if you have the ignition switch on. If it cranks that will prove the battery, starter, high-current wiring and starter solenoid wiring are all okay. That just leaves the transmission range sensor circuit which to complicate matters is incorporated into the Engine Computer.

Instead of jumping the terminals in the relay socket, you can also pop the cover off the relay, install it that way, and squeeze the contact.
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+2
Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
CHARLIE1964
  • MEMBER
  • 13 POSTS
By sqeeze do you mean bridgethe contacs?
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
CHARLIE1964
  • MEMBER
  • 13 POSTS
Bridge the ***
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
CHARLIE1964
  • MEMBER
  • 13 POSTS
We have another voyager here that was in an accedent but the motor and auto are both great, so we were thinking of swapping motors and auto into the car we bought.
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
CHARLIE1964
  • MEMBER
  • 13 POSTS
The smashed one is a 1999 SE and the one we bought is a 2000 LE
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,858 POSTS
Yup. You can remove the relay's cover and squeeze the contact or you can just jump the two terminals with a piece of wire. That will tell us if the starter circuit is okay.
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,758 POSTS
This is a different expert.
The Park/neutral inhibitor you refer to would be the transmission range sensor which signals the PCM when the vehicle is in park and can prevent it from cranking if it doesn't see Park/Neutral.
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
CHARLIE1964
  • MEMBER
  • 13 POSTS
Thanks for that, i'll have a look and see if I can see it and or get to it, will it need to be removed and replaced?
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,758 POSTS
You really need a professional scan tool for this so you can see exactly what the computer is seeing.
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
CHARLIE1964
  • MEMBER
  • 13 POSTS
Its going to the mechanics today to get the transmission changed over from the other one that was smashed on the right hand side. Ive just been looking on the net, and americans call a chrysler voyager a dodge caravan, not sure if that makes a difference though?
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,758 POSTS
No, Dodge makes a Caravan
Plymouth makes a Voyager
and Chrysler makes a Town and Country.
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
CHARLIE1964
  • MEMBER
  • 13 POSTS
Oh :/ well its a chrysler voyager here :)
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
CHARLIE1964
  • MEMBER
  • 13 POSTS
I just went out to the car and noticed that the selector lights on the dash that tell you what its in eg park, reverse ect, dont light up in either park or neutral, but they do in every other gear. If that means anything?
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+1
Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,858 POSTS
That's an important clue. There is a break in the circuit which could be due to a broken wire but much more commonly it is a bad connection in the range switch. Replacing that switch requires removal of the transmission pan and valve body. That is easier than replacing the entire transmission, but if you need to swap transmissions anyway, you'll be getting a different switch too.
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM
Tiny
CHARLIE1964
  • MEMBER
  • 13 POSTS
Before I got the car that was smashed up, the owners put a brand new auto in it, $4000 so the auto is only about 6 mths old, so best to have that one in it anyway :) and hopefully it will be a goer when its finished :)
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Monday, August 31st, 2020 AT 1:20 PM

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