Park Light/Neutral not lighting on dash and/or Shift problem?

[Judge Tredd]

I have a 2007 Mazda 3 GT Sedan with the 5 spd. sport automatic, just over 74k km.

Since the start of winter I've had the occassion problem of the gear not lighting up on the dash when I shift into neutral or park. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't, I have to fiddle with it back and forth until the park light comes on and sometimes have to move the shifter almost into reverse to get neutral to come up on the dash. It's very random. I'm thinking this might be a sensor problem, but I'm not 100% sure and I don't want to waste money servicing the wrong thing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

J.T.

[TheMAN]

shifter cable lever problem... there are many posts about this... just replace the lever, NOT the sensor... cheap fix

[Judge Tredd]

Thanks. Just for the sake of education, what about it is causing it to produce this problem?

[peterm15]

It's a mechanical cable so I would figure it stretched. But that's just a guess.

[Johns 08 3 GT]

shifter cable lever problem... there are many posts about this... just replace the lever, NOT the sensor... cheap fix

This. Go to the dealer and get P/N B2YE-46-310. $8.

http://www.partsvp.com/product_images/c/950/093B0EA769C750BF547676137688BF82__14157_zoom.jpg

[TheAnswer_03]

If my car doesn't start in Park, is that the same part that needs to be replaced? When would the neutral safety switch need to be replaced?

[Johns 08 3 GT]

If my car doesn't start in Park, is that the same part that needs to be replaced? When would the neutral safety switch need to be replaced?

If it does not start in park start and starts in neutral start with replacing the above part. The switch very rarely fails.

[TheAnswer_03]

If it does not start in park start and starts in neutral start with replacing the above part. The switch very rarely fails.

Alright then. I'm getting an oil change/Summer tires soon so I'll ask my dealership about it at the same time.

[TheAnswer_03]

Was told about the lock control lever being only a few dollars at the dealer. They didn't replace it as the issue was intermittent, they cleaned and lubricated something instead as a "courtesy" (i.e. no labor cost). I'm sure the problem will resurface in a few weeks just like last time :(

[Johns 08 3 GT]

Well you can clean the surface rust off of it. But it cost you no money so that's not bad. If it comes back just request the part to be changed.

[Judge Tredd]

Was told about the lock control lever being only a few dollars at the dealer. They didn't replace it as the issue was intermittent, they cleaned and lubricated something instead as a "courtesy" (i.e. no labor cost). I'm sure the problem will resurface in a few weeks just like last time :(

I had the lubrication done last summer, and after a couple months, the problem came back and worsened over the winter. I had the part replaced about 3 weeks ago. Turns out, it was heavily corroded and seized. Now that it's been replaced, everything works just fine.

Thanks for the advice all! :)