Clutch pedal not touching neutral safety switch; is that my problem??

[N8Miller]

Ok, my neutral safety switch came undone a while back. So, i just reattached it. I push the pedal down as hard as i can with 2 hands to see if it touches the little white grooved tab at the end... it doesnt. Is it possible that when i tightened the neutral switch down, it needed to be aligned a bit and moved forward so it touches? any ideas???

Oh, my problem was that the car wont start. new battery, selinoid. cables. when i turn over the car... nothing. wont turn over. just to let you know where im at. Will start if selinoid is crossed.

ignition switch is my next option.

 

[NKau]

Yup. In my old '89, I had to put the clutch TO THE FLOOR to engage that switch to start the car before I finally monkeyed with it.

 

[blk92stangg]

You can try adjusting the white clip thing. It will make a ratcheting sound, and it will self adjust the first time you press in the clutch. You can also try jumpering the switch to make sure it is the switch.

 

[HISSIN50]

good responses. on mine, i could set it wherever, and after driving, where i bottomed the pedal, i would have to really bury the pedal to start it. really disconcerting.

 

[shawn13]

this might help ya

 

[N8Miller]

this might help ya

thats great.... thank you.

blk92: how can i jumpering the switch to see if it is the swtiches fault?

 

[trbkrb]

Nate,

Mine was doing the same thing. I adjusted the clip and it works fine now. A friend's was acting up intermittantly, and it was the switch.

I believe there are just two wires into the switch. Just run a wire between them and try to start the car. The switch just completes a circuit allowing the starter to engage. Of course, make sure it is in neutral first!

Thomas

 

[HISSIN50]

a blade style fuse (like the stangs use) fits very nicely across the connector. heed the last line that TRBKRB said. good luck.

 

[GTRocks]

Guys! Fix the switch! If you just jumper it, you'll be able to start the car while in gear. All you need is to do that when you're in a parking lot and launch into the car in front of you!

I can hear you saying, "Oh, I'd never do that". Yeah, right. Make sure you are talking for your girlfriend/wife/neighbor/uncle/dad/mom/yada/yada. Take a few minutes and fix the thing, then you won't have to worry about it. It's a self-adjusting mechanism, you just have to push it back through so that it resets. Crawl under there and check it out!

 

[HISSIN50]

Guys! Fix the switch! If you just jumper it, you'll be able to start the car while in gear. All you need is to do that when you're in a parking lot and launch into the car in front of you! QUOTE]
i dont know that any of us were telling him to PERMANENTLY disable the switch. but jumping it is very helpful for diagnostics.

FWIW, in the old days,cars did not have safety switches. many of us, errr ahem, older folks, are used to making sure that we are in neutral before starting (as i do on the older cars and motorcycles i have). people these days are trained to start the car in any gear, as there is a switch to save you. i would bet that a lot of the older folks in here put the car in neutral before starting, purely out of habit from doin it for years.

i agree with your sentiments, but give people some credit - that was my point.

 

[shawn13]

FWIW, in the old days,cars did not have safety switches. many of us, errr ahem, older folks, are used to making sure that we are in neutral before starting (as i do on the older cars and motorcycles i have). people these days are trained to start the car in any gear, as there is a switch to save you. i would bet that a lot of the older folks in here put the car in neutral before starting, purely out of habit from doin it for years.

funny thing is i do put my foot on the break and put in neutral just a habit