I can only speak for N. America. The governments here seem to think the motoring public needs to be protected from themselves. Almost all manual trannied cars sold here require you to push the clutch to the floor in order for the starter motor to work. A similar feature in mandated on automatic cars. You must push firmly on the brake before it will move out of "park".
What about Europe? Do you have something like this?

 

I do have an ACT PP. My thought is just that [thought] but I can't see that applying force to the thrust bearing could possibly be a good thing with zero oil pressure on startup.

 

Well.. I had a 1990 Accord automatic for 10 years and it would not start if it wasn't in P or N.
It was the 4 speed auto, 2.0i engine with electronic managed trans, with lock-up!

I could put it in D (out of N) without pressing the brake & engine running, the same for putting it in R out of P.
(if you know what I mean..)
It then would jerk forwards (or backwards) so it was more comfortable to put it in D or R while braking.
Rolling (stop-and-go traffiic) it was ok to do this, no jerk.

No manual car I ever owned had a clutch-in-to-start feature.
(Its not a bug.. its a feature!)

My dad's 2010 Hyundai (No.. its NOT a Honda!) does not have this either.

I drove a friends 2005 BWM 118 and it had it: clutch in to start.


I remember a discussion on s2ki with an engineer from ACT about higher pedal pressure & thrust bearing wear.
They (ACT) did change something to address the issue of thrust bearing failure with ACT's.
Allthough it didn't happen a lot as far as I know.
Playing with spring design and fulcrum point one can create almost the same clamping force and reduce the pedal force while not giving up too much stroke.
Something like that.

Billman: my ACT PP does not have the H021 number.
I bought it in 2004/5 (?) from HTG with the Comptech FW as a set - with OEM disk.
The serial # is 061025051 and is engraved by ACT.
There is also a label with Spec 1.1 and F002765 (seems like an inspection number or test specification)
The F number is also engraved.
Its 100% a Honda PP, painted Yellow (with a stronger spring.... )
Just for info.

As far as I have seen on photos posted on s2ki, the thrust bearing - the 2 half moon plates - get oil from the crank journal they are next to.
It"s the oil that makes it out of the journal (used oil), maybe under some pressure but not a lot.

To press parts together - and squeeze the oil out - and then rotate them seems like a bad thing to mee too.
Maybe one needs a new battery more often, but I like to start in N without clutch.
Last year, there were periods of -18C overnight, it still started normally.
A little slower maybe.

Oh well..

 

Exactly my thoughts. I just want some oil flow to the thrust bearing prior to appying any force to it. I also tend to not sit with the clutch in for very long. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't do anything, but it makes a lot more [common] sense than the alternative.

 

Which plunger is the interlock switch?

 

There are two contact switches on the clutch pedal.

The one that is easy to access is the cruise control cancel switch.

The one that is difficult to get to, mounted higher up and almost out of sight, is the starter circuit interrupt switch. By disconnecting this and jumping the harness connector with a paperclip, you can start the car without pushing the clutch down.

And I will add the disclaimer...this procedure will allow the car to start in gear, and if you are not paying attention EVERY time you start the car without the clutch, the car will fire up at 2000rpm cold in gear and the resulting crash will be a real downer to you or whoever you run over.

Please use your heads

 

edit: Billman's got a better answer.

 

I don't know for sure anymore, it could be it's a memory one thinks they have but never really happened.
When I was learning how to drive - with an instructor in a car with double brake & clutch pedal, you know.. the right way - I was told to use the starter motor to get the car out of trouble when needed.
It could be we actually tried it, again: I'm not sure.
Picture this: you stall on a railway crossing, in panic flood the engine, ect. so it won't start.
What do you do?
Put it in 1st. gear or reverse and "drive" out of trouble using the starter motor.
How's that for safety?
In all my years of driving a manual car I never started any of them in gear by accident, ever.
Because I'm used to check for neutral every time I start it, always.

Pretty simple.

 

I have done this a few times in my old VW Scirocco. Rather than fight with it to get the motor started, I just left it in gear and cranked the starter motor to get the car out of the way. Didn't seem to hurt it any. However, I only ever cranked it for less than 20 seconds.

 

Personally I wouldn't worry about it, but it's your transmission. I once drove a newly-rebuilt transmission with no oil for 10 miles at Interstate speeds. When I exited the highway it was difficult to downshift so I pulled over and called the mechanic. Before I got out the story he remembered that he forgot to fill the tranny after putting it back in the car and was crapping his pants as he was expecting to have to rebuild it again. In the end, I just let it cool down, added tranny fluid, and it was fine, drove it for 10 years with no trouble (it was a heavily modified VW bug).