My girlfriends car (2007 Mazda 3) occasionally won't start. Its very difficult to duplicate. We've had it towed twice and it spent the last 2 days at the garage until they finally gave up and said we can't figure it out. The first time we had it towed to the shop they said it was the battery and less than two weeks later it did the same thing and had to be towed again. When you turn the key nothing happens. Lights come on, radio comes on, heater blower motor works but it doesn't crank. Sometimes cycling the key over and over will get it to start. The tow truck driver said that he has towed several Mazda 3's that had similar problems and it was the neutral safety switch. The Ford dealer claims that if you put it in neutral and try and start it it will start if its the neutral switch. I did that and it doesn't start but the Mazda dealer says the opposite that it won't start in neutral if it's the neutral switch. Any ideas? I want to make sure she doesn't get stranded on her way home from school.
Automatic and no it won't start at all when it happens. We've had it towed twice in as many weeks. Luckily our insurance reimburses tows.
If the neutral safety switch is working properly, you should be able to start it in neutral but not in gear.
Mazdas will def start in neutral. I would start with the service bulletin for the Starter wire. Bulletin No: 01-037/08 I would call the dealer and see if that was done. On some vehicles, the starter motor will not crank and the engine does not start. The problem is intermittent. This is caused by poor contact of the connector for the magnet switch terminal “S” in the starter motor.
Or just take a large screwdriver, hammer, rock or whatever you can find, hit the solenoid a couple of times and see if it cranks.
