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I received a call from my dad about an hour ago, telling me that my mom's car wouldn't start and he couldn't jump start it with his truck (Ranger), so I went out to where it was and got it started no problem (yay for having a diesel with two batteries to pull from haha). A few seconds after I got it started, it started making a loud clanking noise. After it did it a few times, I came to the conclusion that it was the starter trying to re-engage the flywheel while the car was still running in park. I went ahead and took the car since I didn't want her dealing with it if something happened to it on her way home. After I got it back here, I noticed that while the car is in drive, the starter won't try to re-engage. Once I put it in park, it will. Also, when I shut the engine off, the lights will stay on and the heater will come on (weird). If I turn the key to the "run" position but not try to turn the engine over, the starter will engage and start the engine anyway. Does anyone have any idea of what could've happened to it? The car is a 5.4L with 177,000 miles. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks

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Wow. sounds like the type of stuff I get in the shop all the time. First thing I would look at is the ignition switch.

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Try a known good battery, too. I've seen Ford's do weird stuff when reference voltage is low.