"Gear selector not engaged"

[evol660]

I have this posted on 6speedonline and rennlist, hoping fom maybe some fresh insight here as well.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.-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?- 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.- 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.

No CEL or codes pop up on diag.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.

[Loren]

:welcome:

Model and year of the car please?

Depending on the above it could be the ignition switch. Try wiggling the switch/key and seeing if strange things happen. If so, replace the ignition switch.

[evol660]

Hi, I apologize. Its a 2001 996 TT Tiptronic.

[wross996TT]

When you say no codes, what reader are you using? When my immobilizer went there were no messages reported...just dead. Unfortunately the install of the stereo may be related, but for now its just correlation not causation...that said, Porsches' are very sensitive to batteries...if the battery went dead, trickle charging can not resurrect it. Do you know the "new" battery is good? Check ground cables...

[evol660]

Hi wross996TT thanks for chiming in. When I took my old battery in to exchange it they tested it and did a load test and said it was perfect. They reluctantley swaped it out for a new one at my insistance. The new battery shows full voltage and load test as per the printout from there test which I asked them to run before i took it. I am pretty sure that the stereo install is the cause but I just don't see where that could have effected it. The alarm which needs the ground loop off of the old stereo has been isolated and a tape put on the metal plate on the contact patch where it touched the old radio. The message "gear selector not engaged" is what is so odd to me. I have barely found any info on that error. The display does show low fuel, which it usaully does whenever the battery has been disconnected. When the tank is filled up again it resets. Would unplugging the alarm module help any?

[wross996TT]

Did you check relays? (not fuses). Just an FYI....I took a battery out of mine, took it to an Interstate battery shop...it tested good...Bought a new battery anyway and my problems were solved...I don't trust those testers.

The ground wires I was suggesting you check are for the starter/battery not your stereo. Of course check all connections. Did you try jump starting it?

[evol660]

Yup, got my battery exchanged even though they tested it perfect under load. Didn't make any difference. I need to check the relays but need to look up where exactly those are as well as the ground wire. I did try to jump start it prior to the battery swap and nothing happened.

[wross996TT]

You did not respond with what type code reader you are using. Do a quick check on the clutch switch...make sure it is working.

[evol660]

I'm sorry got caught up with work. I used my indys code reader, no idea what its called. I don't have a clutch switch due to it being a tiptronic.

Edited July 31, 2013 by evol660

[laalves]

This is an old one but the exact same thing happened to me when changing the radio. It turned out to be just a fuse, don't remember which one.

[evol660]

Mine according to the indy was a pulled ignition wire in the center console. Apparentley happened when I was fishing a wire from the front the the armrest console. Cost me more than the entire radio and install would have in the end.