2005 Freestar 4.2.
Van ran
parked 1 year
dash out
dash in
no crank
troubleshooting led to more things broke.
suspect security immobilizer, neutral safety switch.
possibly was pushed 3 to 6 inches forcibly in park. long story.
4th time attempting to post. Please help before I burn it to the ground.

 

There has to be more to this than what you have posted so far.
For example, what does dash out and dash in mean, was something taken apart and hopefully put together correctly, don't know.
Did you try a second working key before doing anything when the starter would not engage? This is all important stuff to know.
We should be able to help get this vehicle started, but need as much info as you can provide, OK.

 

Sorry the first 3 attempts at posting this logged me out. So this was abbreviated post and it worked.

All the lights on the dash lit up. Everything was electrically working in the vehicle after the dash install. Just no crank. After rechecking all the connections to verify everything was fully plugged in, I noticed it was different. Tried to start in neutral. No luck. Went to push the car to reposition in the driveway and it was locked in place. Also noticed in neutral, the back up lights were on. Tried every position, back up lights went out but won’t budge. During this process the van wouldn’t start in any gear position. After giving up trying to move it and start it, I was cleaning up for the night. The door locks wouldn’t work, but would dim the interior lights when pressed. The chimes (dinging) were non stop key in or key out, door open or door closed. The headlights stay on key on off, in or out. No interior lights when doors open. Automatic door sliders no longer work, no relay clicks either. Gear selector will go through all positions without pressing the brake now. Did not verify that with key out yet. I pulled the battery last night before bed to do further investigate in the daylight.

 

Van was bought for my mother-in-law. Van was running and driving well but had a few issues. The automatic doors weren’t working, keypad wasn’t working, lift gate and latch weren’t working, radio was broke, and AC was bad. Pulled the radio (aftermarket ready to go in with backup camera to modernize it), fixed the rear lift gate and auto doors, replaced the orifice tube… and found a massive AC leak. So evaporator core was next on the list. Then I got Covid. Her other car died and she had no choice but to finance something. I got stuck holding the van. It was no longer a high priority item so it sat last winter. Weather got nice and I started tinkering with it when I had time. Then I hit a crater in the road on my motorcycle and destroyed my knee. Spent the next 6 months recovering and learning to walk. My daily is a manual and sits low. The knee doesn’t like it anymore. The van seemed like a good option. So I put priority back on the van. Pulled the dash. Replaced the heater core and evaporator core. Replaced the dash. Pretty straight forward thanks to a nice write up on the forums found on here. The only items not plugged in is the wiper motors, radio, and HVAC controls. My first thought was something with some kind of security immobilization system by the way it was acting and the security light blinking away. After a few attempts the light would quit blinking with the key in and thought I got past that. Still no crank. I get no voltage drop when attempting to start. No click under the hood at the starter relay, just a click under the dash. At least until everything stopped working and the whole thing lost its brains.

 

Remember that expression, "You asked for it" , well I did and you let me have it, lol.

Do you have any kind of test equip to use?
My first concern is we need to know when the trans is in neutral or park, because if we attempt to bypass anything to get the starter to operate and the vehicle is in gear, we will have BIG problems.In the process of removing the dash , were any wires seen that had no place to go?
The next thing we need to do is make sure all fuses are good. The fastest way to do this is with a test light. If the key is on, and a fuse has power on one side , it MUST have power on the other side and this is easily done by connecting that test light to a good ground and with the pointed end of the light touch each side of the fuse. If it has power and lites the test light on one side of the fuse it has to also have power on the other side of the fuse. There is a small opening on each fuse that is easily reached with the test light. Let us know how you make out with this and we can go from there.

 

I don’t have a 2nd key. I did have a quick minute to verify the shift linkage is attached and functioning. They key does need to be turned to engage any gears. There appears to be no shift interlock. Is this only a feature with a running vehicle for this model? Later this afternoon I will go through the fuses and swap relays.

 

Hi K-Dub,
It is important to have at least 2 working keys.
First , if one loses it's coding ,and the vehicle will not start, you always have the 2nd key to use.
Second, if you have 2 working keys you can code up to 8 yourself.
We don't know at this time where we stand and hopefully you didn't go through all this trouble because of a key problem.

As you know the shift interlock prevents shifting the lever out of park unless the brake is applied. Something is going on because from what you state, you can get it out of park with the key on without applying the brakes.

 

It was a used car and the need for a 2nd key was not prioritized yet. Hope that don’t bite my rear. Lol. I’m new to the intricacies of the Freestar so I’m not sure what is normal, and what’s not. I know so cars have a shift interlock override, some need power with a brake signal to interrupt, some need an engine on signal before the solenoid energizes. Seeing as this can move with no battery connected and there is no visible override, I am assuming the shift solenoid need to be energized for function which may lead to this being a red herring. Can anyone confirm? I found a procedure for bypassing the starter relay. Knowing it’s in park, I’ll be attempting this later this evening to verify the wiring to the starter and the starter itself is good. Any reason the hvac, radio, or the wipers not being plugged in could have any relevance?

 

You keep throwing me those curved *****.
What and why ,,,,above mentioned items not plugged in ?????

If you mean when you turn the key on they are not powered to work, they should have power to operate and that may be part of the problem.
I suspect there is more than one problem and we need to verify ALL fuses are good and go from there. Fuses inside vehicle and those in engine compartment.

Without key power to allow solenoid to operate the only right way to get the auto trans out of park is to disconnect the linkage at the transmission and move the lever out of park position.

 

I double checked all the connections, looking for bent pins and ensure everything was secure. I plugged back in the hvac panel and the wiper motor. Not sure how they would be related to the starting circuit, but they are connected now. I have no radio so that’s out for now. Old one was causing a battery drain and it ran without it before. Then I reconnected the battery.

current status. Headlights regardless of the headlight switch position or key position come on and stay on. I have brights. I have blinkers. I have tail lights. I don’t think I have brake lights. I don’t have reverse lights. I don’t have emergency flashers. I don’t have door locks. I don’t have windows. I don’t have automatic doors. No overhead buttons work. No back door buttons work. No interior light come on with the doors but turning them on manually makes them come on. Key needs to be on run to move the gear selector, doesn’t matter if the battery is connected or not. The constant chiming stopped. Also when attempting to start, the relays are clicking again under the dash. I have not tried to jump any relays and I have not checked any fuses yet. I have a fuse checker around someplace, just need to find it. I hate winter. Gets dark too quick. Might not be able to move the car regardless of the trans position. I have a flat. 😖.