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2003 CTS Does not recognize it is in Drive, sometimes Park - Hard Starting

8474 Views 15 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  ShapeShifter, 
T
I'm having a ton of problems with my '03 CTS and was hoping someone could point me in the right direction.

About two weeks ago, my wife was driving the car, and the car stopped shifting and would only do about 20mph. She pulled over, turned car off, and then it wouldn't come out of park or release the key from the ignition. After trying a few times, it started, and came out of park and everything seemed ok. She made it home, and the next morning, the car wouldn't start and the key was stuck in the ignition and it wouldn't come out of park. Also, the gear indicator was not working. Seeing other people with similar problems, I bought another ECM and took the car/ecm to the dealer and asked them to flash it. The dealer had the car for a week trying to diagnose it, finally gave up and replaced the ECM with the one I provided and flashed it.

The car started, but now it will not recognize that the car is in Drive. The D in the gear indicator will not light up. When in drive, it will do about 15~20 mph (cuts out at 3,000 rpm because of rev limiter), but if I move the shifter from 2, 3, or 4, it will drive. After moving the shifter back and forth quite a few times, D finally lit up and the car drove just fine for about 1/2 mile and then lit up D went out and the car started acting up again. The car is also having a hard time recognizing P. I usually have to start the car 3 or 4 times before it will recognize/light up P on the gear indicator and come out of park. The car is also having a hard time starting. The starter engages for about 1/2 second, releases for 2 or 3 seconds, engages again for 1/2 second and repeats if I hold the key in Start. If I try starting a few times, it will eventually crank and start with no problems but still have problems with Park and Drive.

I replaced the battery with a brand new one from the store and I have also verified 12 volts at battery when the car is off and 14.2 to 14.4 volts when the car is running. It will pull 14.4 volts if I check the battery terminal to any chassis/engine ground or 14.2 to 14.4v checking the accessory power post in the fuse box or any fuse to any ground. I have also verified less than 1 ohm resistance across chassis/battery/engine grounds. I also took the main ground cable off the driver side fender and wire wheeled the ground, bolt, and fender to make sure there was good contact. I also pulled the trans module mounted on the fuse box and cleaned the connector and checked wiring at the connector and didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Does anybody else have any idea what could be checked?

The car is showing the following error codes:

ECM P0700C and P0318C
EBC C1232C
CCP and IRC B1004H
IPC U1040H

Any ideas/help would greatly be appreciated!
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A48WillyzGuy
Googling p0700 shows me the TCM (transmission control module) is malfunctioning. Could very well be all of your shifter related problems. Though to me, it kinda just sounds like a sensor or wire around the shifter is loose somewhere.

The p0318 says its a "rough road sensor" problem, which might be causing the strange running issues. Seems its supposed to detect rough roads and compensate for less than ideal running conditions.
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K
Before you go too far in spending more money. Remove the cluster and simply unplug the cable, clean the connections and use dielectric grease on the connection. Reset the connection a few times to work the grease into the connection.

Hopefully that will work just like that. However, you may have to take it a part again and this time take the cluster apart and re solder the socket back onto the board. Which you may need to send that out, unless you have worked with solder before.

I have read a thread or two where someone had to remove the cluster and re solder the joints. Basically they had some, what we call in the electronic industry, cold solder joints. The shifter indicator goes through the cluster and has caused problem like this.

If you don't have the ability to re solder the joints. You do have the ability to replace the entire cluster, any 2003 to 2007 will work. However, it has to be the regular CTS, so no CTS-Vs cluster. Also, you will have to get one with almost the same amount of miles. Or send the new one to a company in Michigan to have them program the miles into the new cluster.

KOT
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Kingoftypos said:
Before you go too far in spending more money. Remove the cluster and simply unplug the cable, clean the connections and use dielectric grease on the connection. Reset the connection a few times to work the grease into the connection.

Hopefully that will work just like that. However, you may have to take it a part again and this time take the cluster apart and re solder the socket back onto the board. Which you may need to send that out, unless you have worked with solder before.

I have read a thread or two where someone had to remove the cluster and re solder the joints. Basically they had some, what we call in the electronic industry, cold solder joints. The shifter indicator goes through the cluster and has caused problem like this.

If you don't have the ability to re solder the joints. You do have the ability to replace the entire cluster, any 2003 to 2007 will work. However, it has to be the regular CTS, so no CTS-Vs cluster. Also, you will have to get one with almost the same amount of miles. Or send the new one to a company in Michigan to have them program the miles into the new cluster.

KOT
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Thanks for the info!

I knew the signal went through the cluster, but didn't realize they had problems with cold solder joints. I was going to replace the shifter and cluster, and then the TCM module if that didn't solve it, but now I'll go ahead and try this first. Worked with solder plenty of times, so that isn't a problem. I'll check the cluster out and then report back with any new info.

Thanks again!
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K
Ok great, I'm glad that you've worked with solder before. It's rare to meet people who has worked with it outside of my work. lol

KOT
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I had the same problem for 3 years. It started off as something that would happen every once ina blue then it became an almost every day thing. My car would not recognize that it was in Park ("The P wouldn't light up) and the key would get stuck when this happened. I would have to smack the shifter really hard for the P to light up. After a couple of years with the problem, the light on D started going out while i was driving. This caused my cluster to go haywire and the anti-theft to go off. After that started happening is when i took it to the dealer. The problem was misdiagnosed on several ocassions but we finally got to its' root: the shifter was bad.

The tech at the dealership told me i could fix the problem by either disabling the brake shift interlock (free) or getting a new shifter ($700+). I opted for the former (duh) and the problem went away immediatley and has not recurred.
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Kingoftypos said:
Ok great, I'm glad that you've worked with solder before. It's rare to meet people who has worked with it outside of my work. lol

KOT
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Checked the cluster, the solder joints looked good. I reflowed them anyways with no change to the car.
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ILLMATIK said:
I had the same problem for 3 years. It started off as something that would happen every once ina blue then it became an almost every day thing. My car would not recognize that it was in Park ("The P wouldn't light up) and the key would get stuck when this happened. I would have to smack the shifter really hard for the P to light up. After a couple of years with the problem, the light on D started going out while i was driving. This caused my cluster to go haywire and the anti-theft to go off. After that started happening is when i took it to the dealer. The problem was misdiagnosed on several ocassions but we finally got to its' root: the shifter was bad.

The tech at the dealership told me i could fix the problem by either disabling the brake shift interlock (free) or getting a new shifter ($700+). I opted for the former (duh) and the problem went away immediatley and has not recurred.
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Sounds exactly like the problem I'm having.

How did you disable to brake shift interlock?

Thanks for the info! The shifter was the next part I was going to buy to try and replace, but if it can be fixed for free, even better!
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T
I just removed the solenoid that prevents the shifter from moving out of park. It has made no difference with the car recognizing P or D. The car still won't rev over 2800rpm in D, I have to shift to 4 or below. And the key still gets stuck in the ignition.
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T
Took a look at the shifter, absolutely nothing there that can cause my issues.

The next thing I'm going to look at is the transmission range selector or as it's called in the CTS, the Manual Shift Shaft Switch Assembly. It's the component responsible for telling the vehicle the position of the shifter. Unfortunately it is located in the transmission but I did find in the service manual how to diagnose it with a multimeter. Hoping to take a look at that tomorrow unless anyone else has any ideas on what the problem could be.
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Did you not read what Willys said about the Transmission Control Module ? It sounds like the reasonable solution to me;
I am not an expert on the CTS yet.
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A48WillyzGuy
That's what the code said, but as I stated, it seems to me like a wire or sensor issue. If you can work it a few times and it "fixes itself", then I doubt it's the actual module. I believe the tcm is under the hood, far enough away to not be affected by jarring the shifter or steering column.
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A48WillyzGuy said:
That's what the code said, but as I stated, it seems to me like a wire or sensor issue. If you can work it a few times and it "fixes itself", then I doubt it's the actual module. I believe the tcm is under the hood, far enough away to not be affected by jarring the shifter or steering column.
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The TCM is mounted on the side of the underhood fuse box right behind the driver's headlight. Being that the D works everyonce in awhile and that 4, 3, and 2 work properly, I also doubt that it is the actual module.
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I Have Same Problem Keys Stuck In The Ignition And None Of The Shifter Lights Are ON?
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I just wanted to come back and update what the problem was. The manual shift indicator (Range Switch) located inside the transmission failed and had to be replaced. It's the module that tells the car what position the Shifter is in. I replaced that and it took care of all the problems.

Also, unlike what the service manual states, the driveshaft and exhaust do not need to be removed. I unbolted the center drive shaft support, let it hang down and tied it with wire in the lowest position it would hang, and on the exhaust, I slipped it off the mounts at the muffler, and hung it with bungee cords so it could drop down as the transmission was dropped down. Saved a lot of time not having to remove both of those items.

The part number from AC Delco is: 96042540

Amazon had the best price on it when I ordered.

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ilsmotorsports said:
I Have Same Problem Keys Stuck In The Ignition And None Of The Shifter Lights Are ON?
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If none of your shifter lights are coming on, its likely that your ECM/PCM needs to be replaced.
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Great job! Kudos for updating with the fix!!!
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