Need tips on swapping the clutch start switch
 

This is the second time where the switch has been acting up now. This is the switch that tells the car your clutch is fully engaged and allows you to start ignition.

Pain in the ass. The first time, I tried to do it myself but couldnt really reach around down there since the space is so tight so I had the dealer do it under warranty. But now my warranty is over so I'm looking for some tips.

Has anyone done this themselves before? I searched around and didnt find much. Only found the last time i had this issue: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...=109749&page=3

I'd like to avoid taking the whole pedal assembly out if possible. The mechanic at the dealership also told me he didnt have to, just made some wisecrack about having the right tools. I'm thinking I need a set of thin wrenches?

According to some dude on the Interweb, this is how you do it:

• The under dash panels by the clutch pedal are removed

• The defective clutch switch is disconnected and removed from the clutch pedal support

• The new clutch switch is installed and adjusted

• The electrical connector is connected to the new switch and the panels are re-installed

• The vehicle is started to check the clutch switch for proper operation


Sounds simple enough, unless:

* you're over 65

* you wear tri-focals

* you can't see in low light

* your back won't twist anymore

* it's over 90 degrees

Maybe @Ultramaroon can find you a diagram, so you will know what for and where you are looking.??

Good luck!


humfrz

That stupid switch was one of the first things I defeated. Jumpered it so I don't have to load up the thrust bearings whenever I start the engine.


Ha... I was all over your first thread. Unless you have a pushbutton start, just get rid of that POS switch.

Blah thats the thing, i know where it is. Easy to find. Just hard to reach with a wrench.

Yea went over that last time. My car is parked at a valet lot, and most lots in nyc are valet operated. Whats the risk if an idiot valet hits the button without clutch in and the switch is gone?

Not a matter of "if" but when it would happen. The switch has been so common for so long that I couldn't even fault somebody that didn't know it was disconnected from starting the car in gear. Fine if you are the only person that drives it or get to talk to anybody that will before hand but not a great idea if people that do not know may be in the driver's seat.

Yea thats pretty much my thinking. I can always tell the guys at my primary garage about it so they're aware, but theres no way I can trust the random valets across NYC lol.

Anyway, found this page which has the best pictures of the pedal assembly I've seen so far: https://www.subieautoparts.com/produ...edal-assembly/

Looking at that, I think my main issue was trying to reach the nut closer to the switch body. Its at an angle and pretty much blocked by the rest of the bracket holding the cruise control clutch switch. Gonna try again, this time only going for the more exposed nut.

Not sure where you could find one (Dollar store, bike shop?) but maybe if you could get one of the flat stamped wrenches and give it a bit of a bend in the right place?


https://www.mcssl.com/content/assets...atwrenches.jpg

Hm ill stop by my local hardware store later and see what they have. Also gonna see if they have a stubby adjustable wrench. Something around 6" long might be short enough to work in that space. I just need something to break the nut loose and then i can remove by hand.

Well, you might consider sacrificing a cheapo wrench by cutting it in half.


I remember, back-in-the-day, in order to adjust the side draft carbs on my 1970 MGB, I had to take an old wrench, cut it in half and heat it up with a torch (to pound it down a bit to make it a Whitworth size). Yep, I still have that wrench.


humfrz

Good point!

Ol @Ultramaroon can get away with it because, in order to get his big feet in the footwell of his car, he has to push the clutch in …… :D


humfrz

Whoops! Yes yes... bad plan. NVM :D

Good thinking!

Reminds me of a time, waaaay back-in-the-day, I got to park my car (1948 Chev coupe) in the almost attached garage to our old farmhouse. Why? Because my parents car wouldn't fit, because it was too long.

Anyway, I was very proud of the perfect, complete, OEM grill on my old car.

One day, my mother asked to borrow my car. You see, I always parked my car in first gear. So, when she went to start it … by pushing the starter on the floorboard, she hadn't pushed in the clutch in and since the garage had a shelf that stuck out, the grill got totaled. She felt bad, I felt worse....:cry:


humfrz

I have a real dislike of the pushbutton start. Anything that forces the operator to commit to running industrial strength machinery with no way to abort should come with a big cover surrounded by safety tape.


It should at least make you push once for ignition and hold a second time so you can let go instinctively if something feels wrong.