That makes sense: Per the owner's manual, the car can only be started in Park or Neutral. There must be some sort of blocking mechansim (solenoid?) to keep the key from being turned past ~45 degress from it's insertion point, otherwise the car could be started when the transmission is in Drive or whatever, causing damage.
As you say, maybe there's a linkage problem, such that the key/ig. switch is prevented from going past ~45 degress of rotation, i.e., the car "thinks" it's in Drive whether it is or not, so won't let the key rotate. A faulty cable could do this, no?
As it is now, the key rotates only ~45 degrees regardless of the position of the transmission shifter, i.e., key rotation is < or = ~45 degrees in P, N, D, etc.. with no lights, radio, yada yada yada.
How to check this?
Originally Posted by 632 Regal