Hey everyone, I'm back again looking for help. I haven't asked for help for awhile, so that means the car has been running good. Until tonight. I took the car out, and ran errands with my wife. Several stops without incident. Then the last stop. Got back into the car and went to start the car....turned key and nothing. When I say nothing, let me define what I have observed so far.

Turn the key to ON and I hear the fuel pump, and the MIL goes out (main relay is working fine).

Turn the key to RUN and I get NOTHING (think completely dead battery nothing)

Got jumper cables and tried jumping it (even though I knew this wasn't it, a good samaritan offered)

I had posted a little while ago about a problem with my brake lights staying on and it ended up being a stupid little piece of plastic that was on the pedal assembly was broken/missing and that pushes the brake light switch in when the pedal is released.

I only mention the brake light situation because tonight upon further inspection I noticed the remnants of another one of those plastic pieces on the driver side floor mat. I felt up around the clutch pedal assembly, and I'll be damned if it wasn't missing that plastic piece. Problem solved, right?

Well, maybe not. This is where I am confused. If the clutch pedal ISN'T pushed in, then the pin in the switch is pushed in and the car won't start. But, if that plastic piece is missing, the pin in the switch is OUT all of the time, so the car should still try to start, right?

Well, I had very little light and materials to work with, so I left the car there. But I am confused to the operation of the stupid clutch pedal. Can someone shed some light for me?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Clutch switch works by spring action. When you depress the clutch pedal, the switch closes by spring action moving stem outwards. Occasionally, a switch will stick in the closed position which would disable starting.

Suggest a can of WD40, douse the switch and w/ clutch pedal depressed observe whether clutch switch moves in/out under spring action correctly. Next check that switch is closing (shorting) when clutch is depressed (use volt ohm meter). W/ connnector removed switch should show a short across the terminals.

Another way to confirm bad switch would be to remove electrical connector and short connector pins w/ a wire jumper. This simulates closed switch and should allow car to start, if clutch switch hanging open or failed open is the problem.

good luck