Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Synchros shot? Weird noises while shifting? Not sure what needs to be replaced?
harisund
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Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by harisund »

Hey guys! First post here :)

Anyway, I have a 1995 Mitsubishi Galant, and I generally start the car in neutral with my legs not resting on any pedal. Then I hold clutch down, shift to 1, slowly give it gas as I lower the hand brake.

Now, my car only starts if the clutch pedal is pressed, and doesn't start otherwise.

Any ideas? I totally panicked when my engine simply didn't respond, as if there was a completely dead battery or something. For some reason, I shifted to one, held the clutch pressed and then started the engine, it started fine.

:( :shock:
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Re: Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by VTECaddict »

almost all cars have a clutch-start interlock. your clutch switch was probably stuck in the down position, so it allowed you to start without pressing the clutch in. what you have now is normal behavior.
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Re: Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by Rope-Pusher »

VTECaddict wrote:almost all cars have a clutch-start interlock. your clutch switch was probably stuck in the down position, so it allowed you to start without pressing the clutch in. what you have now is normal behavior.
If you were trying to grow dandelions (for salad greens), a blade of grass would be a weed to you. Broken is in the eye of the beholder.
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Re: Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by LHOswald »

VTECaddict wrote:almost all cars have a clutch-start interlock. your clutch switch was probably stuck in the down position, so it allowed you to start without pressing the clutch in. what you have now is normal behavior.
i've never heard of a clutch switch. im assuming this is only on specific cars?
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Re: Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by harisund »

Can I consider a 1995 Mitsubishi Galant to be "modern" enough?

Just curious, I really do not know :(
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Re: Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by 94Corolla5Speed »

Sure can. My '94 Corolla has it.
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Re: Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by Takigu »

correct me if i am wrong aaron but the 89 (was it an 89?) maxima had an interlock i believe i was always told you had to press the clutch to start the engine so i didnt try without it
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Re: Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by permabanned »

roflmao is this serious. your shit was stuck on if it was starting without the clutch.

nobody asked me for my opinion on clutch lockouts but im an asshole so ill give it anyway. its about as pointless of a feature are headlight wipers. im so glad my car conveniently doesnt have one. so many uses for not having it and not a single benefit of having it. unless your brain is in a box somewhere and you dont have the common sense to not start in gear.
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Re: Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by watkins »

Jesus Christ. The only modern and common car I can think of off the top of my head without a clutch interlock is my own. No, Probes are not particularly common cars.

I do agree with Roman's sentiments. Clutch interlocks are stupid. Put your damn foot on the clutch and start the car. If you leap forward or back thats your own damn problem.
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Re: Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by comingbackdown »

Takigu wrote:correct me if i am wrong aaron but the 89 (was it an 89?) maxima had an interlock i believe i was always told you had to press the clutch to start the engine so i didnt try without it
I believe so. It was an '87. That said, yes I believe it did.

Anywho...

My '94 Cavalier has it.
Note: It's a really epic bitch to remove for testing...
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Re: Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by permabanned »

5spd swap FTW, no clutch lockout. yes, had a few cranks in gear but the car moves a whole few inches before i let go of the starter, and being able to crank it in gear has helped me a hell of a lot of times. cranking in 1st to get out of the road when my coil wire broke off for instance.

or your car magically stops on train tracks and wont start. you get out and hope you can push it off the tracks before both of you get dead, i just crank in 1st and voila, problem solved.

or crank it in 2nd gear across a parking lot to a gas station


yes i have a spare starter laying here in my room, but push starting is much more fun
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Re: Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by theholycow »

watkins wrote:Put your damn foot on the clutch and start the car. If you leap forward or back thats your own damn problem.
Once the lawyers get involved, it becomes the manufacturer's problem. They can put in a $5 switch or they can take a 20 million dollar lawsuit.
permabanned wrote:being able to crank it in gear has helped me a hell of a lot of times.
You need to get your act together. 99.9% of drivers spend their whole lives without ever needing to move their car with their starter.

Don't get me wrong, I'd like not having a switch just in case of that whole railroad track thing, but I rarely cross any railroad tracks and no fuel-injected car should ever fail to fire up. Now, my carbureted Buick takes forever to start, but it's an automatic (I wonder if it will crank in D)...

Oh, and Rope-Pusher tells me that my clutch switch might be involved in delivering my favoritest feature in the whole wide world, Rev Hang.
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Re: Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by 94Corolla5Speed »

This is the awesome thing about my car. My clutch start switch is on my firewall. The clutch pedal has a tab that pushes it down. I can easily put my foot under the tab and press it with my foot. I have the option to start without the clutch, such as on the train tracks in gear as Roman stated.
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Re: Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by wannabe »

wait, what? cars can start WITHOUT presssing the clutch? that would be a horrible, yet awesome trick to do on my dad's bug....haha
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Re: Car won't start unless clutch is pressed

Post by RITmusic2k »

Only some... relatively few. Watkins already mentioned our quirky Swedish machines; the early 90s Honda Prelude Si didn't have one either. That's all I can think of.
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