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My sister has a 92 mazda protege. auto tranny. a few days ago her shifter was stuck in park and would not move. the car would start but when started the rpm guage wouldnt work. there is a little button next to the shifter that i moved and the car will shift out of park. But now the problems are really starting to show. no turn signals, seatbelt pulleys dont work. rpm guage still not working. and the most important is the car is not shifting properly. it will shift it you actually run it through the gears. I know this has to be something electrical but i have no idea. if anybody has any idea wat is goin on here. Please help me. I would greatly appreciate it
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You need to start with an electrical diagram. If you put ‘chiltons manual’ into the search function at the top of this page, it will guide you to a free chilton’s manual that contains wiring diagrams. Usually though, when you have a bunch of oddball electrical issues, it comes down to a ground wire(s). Use the wiring diagrams, and locate the grounds. Make sure they didn’t get wet or have become severely corroded. I would especially look at the brake switch and circuit, which should indicate the the PCM that the brake is pushed in, allowing you to shift out of park. There could be other systems that you mentioned connected to the same ground.
Quoted From Beefy:
You need to start with an electrical diagram. If you put ‘chiltons manual’ into the search function at the top of this page, it will guide you to a free chilton’s manual that contains wiring diagrams. Usually though, when you have a bunch of oddball electrical issues, it comes down to a ground wire(s). Use the wiring diagrams, and locate the grounds. Make sure they didn’t get wet or have become severely corroded. I would especially look at the brake switch and circuit, which should indicate the the PCM that the brake is pushed in, allowing you to shift out of park. There could be other systems that you mentioned connected to the same ground.
Im on that website but nothin shows up when i pull up a diagram
Look at the very bottom of the selections available. I think it is listed as ‘wiring diagrams’. You may have to make sure you’re Adobe program is up to date to read .pdf’s (I think that’s the one, I’m a computer retard)
hhhmm…, I would check all your ground connections and power connections, make sure your battery is good and your alternator is charging
(most auto parts stores will test both for free.
Good luck and please keep us posted.Quoted From Trcustoms719:
hhhmm…, I would check all your ground connections and power connections, make sure your battery is good and your alternator is charging
(most auto parts stores will test both for free.
Good luck and please keep us posted.I’ve checked all the fuses and they all seem to be working. The battery is new and the alternator is new. All of the ground wires that i can find seem to be alright too. There is a odd sound though. It almost sounds like the bearing in the alternator is goin out. I’m not sure though
Check all the fuses under the hood and the joint box near the drivers foot? If all of those are good then check the harness connections under the dash. There is a common ground point for most of the gauge cluster which is run into the back of the joint box aka break out fuse box. The harness running into the back of the gauge cluster would be a good harness specifically to inspect. Most of the gauges then go onto to the ECU directly.
If you have multiple gauge issues it’s either going to be a loose harness or bad ground. A bad ground makes a lot of sense if your gauges and shifting issues are random. I’ve seen that happen quite a lot on other forums and usually has to do with owners in areas that use a lot of salt on the roads. That stuff with corrode away your ground points and then voila you’ve got some wacky electronic stuff happening. If you live in an area with rocky or otherwise harsh road conditions I would suspect a loose wiring harness connector. somewhere either behind the dash or attached to the fuse box or ECU.
If all that checks out good you might need to take a look at the wiring to the ECU which is probably under the center console. In Probes, MX-6, and 626’s it’s rare for a pin to slip out of the ECU or PCM but there are documented cases of that happening so you’ll want to check for that too.
You will need to start on the easiest inoperative circuit and diagnose why that is not working and see if any of the inoperative components share a common ground.
Reading through I didn’t see you mention anything about any check engine lights, if you have any of those address them first. I agree that it seems to be electrical in nature and I also recommend checking for ground connections that could be faulty. What you would be looking for in a wiring diagram is something common to all the effected circuits, this is the reason that checking ground connections is a good start as they normally involve many circuits.
I had a no start no crank issue today. Got out. Cleaned the terminals, tightened down the leads… and voila. Started right up.
It’s surprising what a bad ground (a lil corrosion, loosen or broken) will do to an electrical system. My money is on a bad ground. You said the alternator and battery are new but did you (yourself or a mechanic) check the voltage with key on/ engine off and the while cranking? Double Check, as it’s always better to check twice then go on a ghost hunt.
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