I have a 2006 Jeep Liberty CDR Diesel. My understanding is the 2006 CDR came with two different automatic transmissions. One came with a Neutral safety switch, the other did not. I believe mine is without it. I can start the engine in any gear. Is there anyone else's transmission that will start in any gear? Or am I the only one having a problem with my ECU? Is there anyone else that can start their 2006 CDR in any gear?

the 545RFE does not have a neutral safety switch, it uses a transmission range sensor which is located on top of the valve body.

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U.S. Army Retired

What flash7210 said^^

The Starter Motor Relay inside the Relay/Fuse box under the hood gets +12 volts onto the relay coil pin 86 when you turn the ignition key to Start position.

The ground side of this Starter Relay Coil should only appear on pin 85 when this Transmission Range Sensor feeds the correct signal through the TCM and then through the ECM to provide ground.

So maybe the Transmission Range Sensor is not working, the TCM is not working, the ECM is not working or the wiring between all the units is faulty ie. probably shorting to chassis somewhere.

With Ignition OFF measure pin 85 on the Starter Relay...you can pull the relay out and measure inside the relay socket.... with reference to +12 volts with your Multimeter set to DC Volts to see if this pin 85 is sitting solidly at ground...should not be at Ground solidly!

Download the 2006 KJ Service Manual here...includes the Wiring Diagrams in Section 8 and also give you the Theory of Operations.

http://www.colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/KJ

There is a known problem with the LHD 2006 CRD that the wiring harness passes from the engine bay into the cabin behind the Fuel Filter Head Mounting Bracket. This bracket can press down on the harness causing wires to chafe down to chassis causing shorts to chassis. I am not sure if this particular circuit is affected here but if you do find that pin 85 on the Starter relay is sitting at ground permanently then this Bracket is where I would start looking first!

Cruise Control not working could be related to the Transmission Range Sensor having its own problem though or also related to chafed wires behind the fuel filter bracket

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2002 Export CRD 2.5 Sport

As far as I know the only automatic transmission fitted to the 05/06 KJ CRD was the 545-RFE. Whether or not any of those lacked a start lockout feature I have no clue although I do know the USA market ones did have such a feature. Whether or not that feature is electronic or at least in part mechanical is not something I'm directly familiar with. That said see the old post from geordi copied below.

Fix to failure of shift position sensor AND brake/shift interlock according to "geordi" on LOST - Pull the shield off the top of the gear shifter, there are 2 small cables in there; the passenger-side one is the sensor cable, it's not electrical, it's an aircraft wire; the sensor is actually located under the steering wheel. Unhooked, problem solved permanently. I thought of a quick way to test the actuator cable without pulling anything apart on the shifter console - With the engine off and in park, pull back slightly on the shifter to apply tension, and try cranking the engine. If it doesn't go... The cable is the culprit b/c the tolerance (and how much it moves normally) isn't much. The cable is pushed toward the front of the vehicle when the selector is in park, and just shifts backwards slightly when the selector is anywhere else. All you need to do is unclip the end of the cable, and push the end into the sheath until it stops (about 1/4") and tuck it away in there. This won't affect anything else in the operation of your CRD, the shift interlock (that foot-on-brake-to-shift) idiot switch will still be there and functioning... Unless that 2-wire connector happens to "fall out" like it did on mine. Strange how that happens sometimes.

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Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs

The relay is working properly according to your description. When I turn the key to start I get a ground at pin 85 and I get 12 volts positive at pin 86 and that is only when the key is in the start position. When the key is not in the start position I don't get 12 volts or ground on either pin.

What I am wondering is, if I put my transmission in drive, should I be able to start my vehicle? Or should it only start in neutral and park? I'm assuming it should not, but it does! The only way I can know for sure that I have a problem is if someone else with a CDR Jeep 2006 with transmission 545RFE cannot start it in Drive. Can someone else who has a with a CDR Jeep 2006 with transmission 545RFE try to start their vehicle in Drive and let me know?

I only discovered this problem when I was trying to figure out why my cruise control isn't working. I have checked the brake switches, checked the fuses, checked all the switches on the steering column and the only thing I found out bad was the vehicle starting in drive, which seems incorrect to me. The cruise control light comes on, but when I try to set the cruise there is no response.

Thanks for all your quick responses.

papaindigo - in regards to your post, I appreciate everything you stated. The cable on my passenger side does not go to the steering column but goes directly to the transmission where it connects to the
transmission range sensor which is located on top of the valve body. Apparently the range sensor gives five signals or so to the jeeps computer and the computer tells the transmissions solonoids to operate in their proper order. I'm also assuming This range sensor system serves a second purpose. It tells the jeeps computer when the transmission is in neutral or in drive and tells the starter when to and not to operate. My theory could be mistaken and the range sensor might not prevent the starter from operating. If this transmission is not suppose to start in drive then I have to figure out why it IS starting in drive. And that's probably why my cruise control doesn't work. I don't think there is anything wrong with the transmission range sensor because all the gears in the transmission work the way they are suppose to and if there was a problem with the range sensor the transmission wouldn't shift properly. As for the cable that goes to the steering column, it doesn't seem to connect to any electrical switches in any way. Thanks again for your help!

Please keep the suggestions and ideas coming. My wife needs this cruise control to work!