Jeep tries to start in park/neutral
 

I have a 1997 Grand Cherokee Laredo inline 6, 4.0 litter. And it tries to start itself, by itself without the key in the column. In other words with the key in my pocket the starter continues to try and start the engine non stop while in park. The only way I can get it to stop grinding the starter is to remove the battery terminal. And the weird part, if you turn the steering wheel all the way left or right while the car is in park and this issue isn't happening it tries to start, still with no key.

What i've done so far is replaced the starter, thinking it was a bad unit. Replaced the neutral safety switch. and I removed all the connectors from the ignition switch and it still had the same problem.

I have no idea what to do next. Or how to fix it. I need this jeep to work I have to get to work. Any help would be awesome.

Remote start installed?

no aftermarket or stock remote start installed that I or three other people could find. Nothing by the fuse box under the hood for a fuse or extra wire. Nothing under the steering column either. Not sure of other places it could be installed. But we all looked for about 30 minutes each.

Trace your starter wires from start to finish and look for any area of bare wire etc that could be allowing the power lead to energize the battery by finding ground . Also pull starter relay and swap with a known good relay .

I checked about 40% of the wires before it got too dark. nothing found that was eye noticing. I swapped the relay with another and it still had the same problem. I used the horn relay it was the same numbers and size so I assumed it was the same relay. Nothing changed and my horn still worked lol.

Check the rest in the daylight . However we had a couple instances like this recently at my shop and for the life of me I can't remember what caused it . I will report back as soon as I ask one of the other guys that can remember it was a while back!

Anything would be a help. If I start the engine and put it in drive or reverse it has no issues. But as soon as its in neutral or park the starter still tries to start the car and it's already running.

I'll get back with you asap I'm dead tired . I'll help best I can !

In the 2 instances at our shop it was a short in the range sensor on side of transmission. This particular set of vehicles integrate more than just the neutral safety switch so I'm honestly not familiar enough with jeeps to know if it could do same thing . Did you say you unplugged it? And also check the wiring to and from it .