1998 Ranger Intermittent Starting Issue

[readdad]

I have a 1998 3.0L Automatic 2WD. Sometimes it will not start. Turn the key to start position....nothing but radio. Thought the battery was dead, replaced it. One day got mad and threw the transmission in to 1st gear then as hard as I could back to park. Started right up. Now I have to do this almost daily to start the truck. Sometimes I only have to do it once, but sometimes I may sit in the parking lot for 5 minutes. Is there a sensor or safety switch somewhere that causes the enigine to not start unless it is in park? This is a beat up truck with 210,000 miles on it. It is a daily driver and runs great...when it starts. Just curious if there is something cheap and easy to fix it. Thanks in advance for your help.

[dread_siren]

yes there is, the neutral safety switch is designed to do exactly that, could be faulty... they dont usualy run that much, might grab one from a junk yard to test if that is the problem before spending the monies. also check your battery clamps/cables and see if they need replaced. I have a standard truck that the clamps caused the same sort of problem.