I have a 2000 Mazda 626 and it randomly does not start. Sometimes I try to start the car and when I turn the ignition, there is no sound. The battery is brand new and so are the spark plugs. This happend a couple times. The first time I just tried again about 15 minutes later and it started up. The next time I was playing with battery terminal wires and it started. The third time I tried to move the battery terminals but that did not work so I put the car in neutral and moved it front and back and it started. Why is this happening?
When you were playing with the terminal wires, were they loose? This sounds like your cables might not be clamped properly on your battery, or like your cables are worn somewhere and grounding to the frame. More likely the former.
“I put the car in neutral and moved it front and back and it started.”
I am unclear as to whether you moved the shift lever “front and back” or whether you somehow moved the car “front and back” (I assume that you meant forward and back).
In any event, if placing the shift lever in neutral helped you to start the car, that is a pretty good indication that the Neutral Safety Switch is in need of replacement. On a temporary basis, simply putting the car in neutral, rather than park, when you turn the ignition key can suffice, but I would suggest having a mechanic check the Neutral Safety Switch, and replace it if it is defective.
Other possibilities include a worn-out ignition switch, and/or loose/corroded battery terminals.
Your problem is most likely a loose shifter cable where it connects to the transmission and neutral safety switch under the air filter. You’ll likely find the grommet aged and cracked or missing. You’ll wonder how you ever managed to drive the thing. It could also just be a bad neutral safety switch.
626 guy–
No matter how good your advice is, do you REALLY think that the OP is still sitting at his computer–two full months later–waiting for additional responses?