I checked my diagnostic codes, and after clearing them, the car won't start. No crank, nothing. Instrument panel lights come on, so the battery is there and working, I just get no crank.
My Chilton's manual has a cryptic statementp at the end of the code-clearing procedure, "If car won't start, enter Control Function 2." I went through the Control Function 2 procedure, but still no start.
Any ideas appreciated. I need to get my car started!!
This might be an ignorant question but I want to know how did you do the diagnostics codes? I do have a light saying service that comes each time I start the car and I don't know how to make go away and if there is a way to know what is this light coming for.
I doubt that clearing the codes is related to the no start. I've never heard of this happening before. (Not to say that it can't.) I suggest starting with the basics - move the shifter back and forth a dozen times, try neutral as well as park.
After more reading and research and testing, I think you are probably right. I performed the diagnostic check on the "idle speed compensation for automatic transmissions" (basically I think this is just a test of the neutral safety switch), and it failed. So, I suspect that the neutral safety switch in my shifter is bad. Moving the shifter back and forth and trying to start in neutral did not work, and my reverse lights do come on (controlled by the same switch, I think), so these clues don't point to the neutral saftey switch, but I don't think they necessarily rule it out, either. I bought a new switch yesterday and will report back when I get it installed.
Sharshera -- the service light can usually be reset. On my 1990 740 there is a small button behind a rubber plug near the odometer. Just use a small screwdriver to push in the button and the light goes out. Not all models have this button, though I'm sure there is a way to reset the light.
Solved. As suspected by most here, my no-crank condition had nothing to do with clearing the codes. It was the neutral safety switch. Just a coincidence that the switch died just before I cleared the diagnostic codes.
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