Hey all ran into a problem yesterday while installing my new stereo. Installed and everything was fine. Turned ignition to accessory and radio turned on and played around with it for about 2 minutes. While I was installing, nothing electrical just the double din cage, the doors were open draining the battery for about 2 hours. Got finished and went to put it all back together in the dash and went to turn on the car. Nothing. The display on the dash says " gear selector not engaged". The "airbags failure light came on twice but never after that. Radio will not turn on either. Dash has full lights and headlights and alarm work. Alarm does beep once now which has to do with the ground cable which I can do later. The car does not start. When I turn the key it makes a weird noise from near the fender and then makes not noise. No starter clicking or anything. Now I did fish a cable from the armrest to the front under the center console. My Indy said to make sure nothing got loose in the cables underneath which I did. He also said to check all fuses which I did and found nothing wrong. Gear lever goes through all gears fine. Key in ignition turns fine also. Car battery volt reads a little above 12v and had it on trickle charger overnight. I Am at a lose. I have searched everywhere and have found nothing similar to my issue. My question is this, can it be the battery? It has failed me a few times recently but chalked it up to not driving it enough and bought a trickle charger.

I love working on my own car and did the stereo install and now am regretting it. I just don't know what I could have possibly messed up. Any help would be much appreciated. By the way, car is a tiptronic so no clutch switch. Thank all.

 

it can definitely be the battery. though conventional wisdom suggests you trace any and all that was messed with on your stereo upgrade. the battery drain on these at all times, is beyond explanation. that the doors were even open would be my first clue. plus the sound you hear when you turn the key. it sounds dead.

edit: i just re-read and you mention recent battery issues. r&r a new battery .. problem solved. 10 to 1. GL w it

 

Yup, battery is still under warranty so will give it a shot tomorrow.

 

Check the neutral/park safety switch. Also, did you use a head unit with DVD player that required you to attach a wire to the e-brake (the nanny wire that trys to make sure you arent driving and watching tv) ? I helped my buddy solve his radio problem when we traced the wire to the neutral safety that should have been on the ebrake, so check those items as he had some weird things going on too until we resolved it. Hope it helps

 

Thanks for the reply. I installed a Appradio with no CD/DVD drive. I did install a e-brake bypass. I will look up where the neutral/park safety switch is.

 

When the battery is low, these cars can act very strange, providing a bit of a scare, if you have a battery charger, give it a full charge. If you are still having issues after that or do not have a battery charge, get your battery check, then can recharge or replace.

When I installed my stereo I remember running my battery out, and having some strange warning lights etc, car not cranking over, but lights interior lights working etc.

 

Well, charged the battery all night with the trickle charger. Still nothing. Shows battery as fully charged. Volt meter on car still shows just a little above 12v. Just wont start and radio won't turn on. All other lights work. Something odd I noticed was the yellow ambient light near the rear view mirror stays on no matter what. Is that normal? Switching battery is next. Hopefully that works.

 

can't help beyond my first thought, which is that given you had issues with the same battery before, it is likely shot. i am also willing to bet that replacing it will resolve this. assuming again, nothing was messed up from the upgrade. if so, you'll know what many of us learned he hard way vis a vis batteries and the 96t. go grab a NEW battery! lol

 

Well switched out the battery for a new one. Nothing. Same thing. Turn the key, dash lights come on. Radio still doesn't turn on. Dash lights turn on, headlights, alarm, windows all fine. Turn the key to start, same weird noise in front fender, headlights auto adjust and "gear selector not engaged" in dash. No clicking, no slow turnover, nothing. I am at a complete loss.

 

Sounds like a relay fuse relay etc I would check to see if the starter was getting juice. I'm afraid you may have inadvertently burnt out something wire/relay when installing stereo.

 

sorry it didn't work out. i lost a bet w myself. gl w it.

 

I suspect something with immobilizer and the theft deterrent system that is keeping you from starting or play with stereo. The stock system has I believe an open ground loop as part of the radio theft deterrent system so during your install, you may have triggered the system and may have immobilized the vehicle. I'd start with fuses on immobilizer and radio, maybe remove radio completely to see if radio is doing it.
You may have wired the radio into some circuit that triggered the theft deterrent system too.
Good luck

 

rxbike that sounds like good advice.

 

Hey all. Checked all the fuses, immobilizer connections, taped the stereo ground loop and plate so no more beep when the car is locked. Rechecked all stereo connections as well. Tried starting without the new stereo and it was the same thing. From what I have read online, if it is an alarm or immobilizer issue there would be a message on the dash or a light for it. Is this correct? All i get is the "gear selector not engaged. Another question is this. Inside the armrest under the bottom panel, how loose should the handbrake cable be? Mine moves around pretty freely. Thanks again for the all the input.

 

wire ?

Do you have a Durametric ? Did you check for codes? This would likely help troubleshoot further.