My '94 960 (278,000 miles) is having trouble restarting after being parked (hot or cold)

Often it will not start and I will have to wiggle the gear shift in park while holding the ignition switch in the start position in order to get it to start. The problem seems to be in gearshift and ignition switch. It seems like I can hear microswitch contacts being made somewhere in the dash when I find the PARK sweet spot and it starts. I have grown to listen for this to know when the car is ready to start.

With car not started (key in II position) the gear lever will not come out of park unless I depress the shift lock overide button.

Sometimes when it won't start I put the key in II position and then shift to neutral, drive, back to park, neutral, and try and restart while car is in neutral - this yields limited success sometimes when I can find that sweet spot. Sometimes I put it back in park and then try some more - last night it was 15 mins of this trial and error. I am not generally anymore successful starting in neutral or park. It's just up in the air.

In any of the cases above: When the car is running it will not come out of park until I depress the shiftock overide and then manually pull it out of park. This just recently happened in the last month. The no start thing has been going on for over a year.

Thanks for any help.

A classic PNP switch symptom. The switch needs to be replaced. Do not by pass it, removing the safety feature and one of it's purposes, to sense when in park to allow the starter to engage. It is a 5 on the DIY scale. Read about it in the FAQ in the box marked more at the top center of every page on this site.

DanR '94 964 387,000 miles (153,000 on the new engine)
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DanR

It sounds like the PNP switch.

Instead of changing the switch, get a push button switch and hook a wire to the small terminal on your solenoid switch on the starter, run the wire into the passenger compartment, connect the wire to a hot wire such as the back of the cigarette lighter. Then when ever you need to start the car, use the switch to engage the starter. Be careful with the switch as anytime you push it the starter will engage. You can get a switch at Advance, Auto Zone or about any auto store. This would be about the same as pushing your horn button and the horn blows, instead you push the button and the starter works.

Hope this helps.

Jimo

That would be a good fix if it is the ignition switch. I have done it and it works But a bad Gear Shift sensor kills the power to everything in the ignition. Or I may be wrong on that one. I remember once, everything was dead in the instruments.