Hello, I have an 06 Buick Lacrosse that has the strange quirk of the engine being able to be started in any gear. There are multiple things it could be I believe and I am trying to narrow it down: 1. The neutral safety switch is stuck/not working? 2. It could very well have something to do with the weird setup the previous owner had done ( a 102 year old, who was still driving believe it or not) who had a bypass made of the anti-theft system (there is no steering wheel lock, and key was changed to a non-chipped key) so he could have cheaper keys made when he lost them (which apparently for him was a regular thing)... I believe that the security/ anti theft module has been bypassed (possibly the module that communicates with the neutral safety switch in the tranny) thereby letting the car start in any gear. The car only has 80,000 miles on it and is otherwise free of most other issues, other than a silly evap leak I have to find at some point I guess lol and a 02 sensor issue I guess.
Bizzare issue with 4t65e transmission/06 Buick Lacrosse
- Thread starter sero5454
- Start date
This probably won't be much help, but this is the era where some genius moved the Neutral Safety Switch / Gear Selection switch assembly to the inside of the transaxle instead of being on top of it. Off the top of my head, I would be curious to see if the car starts with the transaxle connector unplugged.
I can't imagine what kind of creativity would be going on inside the car to pull this off.
I know the '06 has some oddities with the change over of the GM comm bus, powertrain options, and both floor and console shift, but I thought the actual embedded resistor key was long gone in favor of the PK3 transponder.
You may actually be referring to this type of key already. Just though I'd mention it, as it isn't as noticeable as the (trouble prone) resistor keys.
I can't imagine what kind of creativity would be going on inside the car to pull this off.
I know the '06 has some oddities with the change over of the GM comm bus, powertrain options, and both floor and console shift, but I thought the actual embedded resistor key was long gone in favor of the PK3 transponder.
You may actually be referring to this type of key already. Just though I'd mention it, as it isn't as noticeable as the (trouble prone) resistor keys.
I talked to a retired transmission shop owner friend of mine and he said that probably it's because the anti-theft module was bypassed with wiring that has the starter switch connected directly to the starter solenoid instead of going through the anti theft module first (which is the module that communicates with the neutral safety switch). He helped me confirm that the neutral safety switch still works because my reversing lights still come on no problem (they are turned on and off by the neutral safety switch according to him). Oh well at least all of this silliness means I only have to pay 10 bucks for spare keys instead of having to go through the hullabaloo of getting a gm chip key programed at about 120$ per key. I'm thinking I'm going to wire a kill switch in there somewhere though (I live in an area with a very bad car theft problem) so I don't have to worry my socks off about some nerdoweller absconding with my the only car I have right now.
A car stereo shop could diagnose and/or fix this if you have the money. They could do something clever like wire it so you have to press RR window down to override your kill switch.
IDK what "hood rats" steal Buicks, considering they came with Passkey or Passlock immobilizers. They're too busy jacking Kias.
IDK what "hood rats" steal Buicks, considering they came with Passkey or Passlock immobilizers. They're too busy jacking Kias.
