I have an 02 with 30k on it.

Yesterday went to leave work, go to start the car, push down the clutch, push the start button and nothing happens. I could hear what sounds like a relay in the car, but the starter is doing nothing! No clicking of the solenoid, nothing. Battery was fine.

So I try taking the key out and retry 6 times and same thing no one home??

Had to get a coworker to push start the car. So then i park on a grade and shut off the car and try agin. Parked on a grade in case it didnt start I could pop the clutch and start her.

Well I try over 15 times and she starts everytime. Drive home try again 10 times and again all is fine.

Anyone have anything like this, I know its not the battery & cables.

Any thoughts?? Does our ecu lockout kill the starter or the injectors ??

Sorry for the long post.

 

Few things could be at fault here.

1st Clutch Sensor. There is a sensor that informs the ECU that the clutch is depressed to keep you from starting the car with the driveline connected.

2nd Could be the battery connectors. I know you say these are fine, but corrosion can get between the terminals and your cables and cause flaky connectivity.

3rd The key is chipped and the ECU is programmed to make sure it's within proximity of the car before it will start. This is unlikely.

 

We don't have this safety feature on our Euro spec cars.

I thought only JDM cars had it

 

[QUOTE=mbilderback,Apr 20 2006, 04:23 PM]
2nd Could be the battery connectors.

 

Did everything on the dash light up fine?

 

My car won't start or even try to start without the clutch fully depressed. The US Spec cars have some sort of sensor for detecting clutch depression before it will allow the starter to turn.

 

its just a switch sometimes they go bad or get stuck

 

Little stuff like the dome light worked. Too long ago to remember all the things I checked & looked at. But my 1st thought was "it could not be the battery, the inside lights work."

 

thanks for your thoughts , I checked the battery it is clean and tight, the dash lights and everything were fine, no signs of dimming when I pushed the start button...

How to chk this switch?

 

The exact same thing happend to my roomates car. Its a nissan but all the symptoms were the same. At first I thought it was a corroded battery connection but it turned out to be a bad starter motor. hopefully this isnt the case but i wouldnt rule it out