mcgina

My car starts up no problem but when I drive for a while it won't start. But when I jump start it, it instantly starts no problem. When I have the keys in the ignition fully ON, all gauges and electronics work, I can even hear the fuel pump turning on.

I checked the battery and it's good, terminals, all that. I'm thinking of checking the fuses. Any ideas? It starts no problem with a jump start and when I haven't driven it for a while (i guess when it cools down?) Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I'm stumped. Please help

zeroptzero

My Nephew's Del Sol had the exact same symptoms, I adjusted the clutch switch and made sure it was fully closed when the clutch pedal was pushed in and it never acted up again. If the switch is at the very limit of being closed slight changes in temperature and driving conditions can keep it from working even after working just a few minutes beforehand. He was getting stuck on the road when the car refused to start after making a stop, and he would have to jump start it by rolling the car and popping the clutch.

We thought it was a starter issue at first, but it continued to happen after putting in a new starter. After I adjusted the clutch switch it never happened again. I just extended the switch but turning it clockwise and the switch's end made better contact with the pad that is on the clutch pedal.

Gotpepsi

I have a bit of confusion regarding to your post. The car starts without a problem when:
You jump start it
When you let the car sit for a while, over night, over the course of a week, a month?

-or-

You drive the car, turn it off, let it cool down, and it's able to start back up again within the period of 2-6 hours. After a day or so, the car won't start again.

Dead Serious

Does the starter run good and the engine just doesn't run or is the starter unresponsive? If the starter wont run or it runs slow it sounds like a bad battery regardless of what you think about the battery, especially if the battery is more than 5 years old. Your information is hard to understand. If the only extra step it takes to start the car reliably is to add the electrical power of a jump, the battery is bad. If there is substantial, obvious corrosion on the battery cables at the battery terminals the car still may not start with a good battery. You may be bypassing this by jumping the car.

mcgina

I don't know the exact/approximate time I have to wait for it to be able to start up again, because I usually get jumped asap when it's not able to start. However, when I get it back home and say it's off in the garage at night. In the morning It starts up no problem. So I'm guessing 5+ hours until it's able to start again?

mcgina

The starters good it turns over just fine when the car is able to start, and the battery is good and so is the terminals, no corrosion or nothing. contact is good as well

zeroptzero

Stick your head under the clutch pedal and push the pedal all the way in. Have a bright light shining on the clutch switch and make sure the clutch pedal is contacting the clutch switch with enough force to close the switch completely. This could be the easiest fix if you are having contact issues with the clutch switch.

mcgina

I just tightened the bolt on the clutch switch, but I noticed one side is welded on? I couldnt adjust the bolt on the clutch switch side, but I was able to tighten the other side a little bit

zeroptzero

The clutch switch goes through a threaded hole in the pedal assembly, it is held tight by a locknut, I think it is a 12mm or 13mm nut. With the locknut loose you can turn the switch clockwise to extend it towards the firewall so that it makes better contact when the clutch is pushed in. There is black plunger on the end of the switch and it has to be fully compressed inwards when the clutch is pushed in - so it makes proper contact. Once you are sure that the switch is being contacted then you turn the locknut to lock the switch in place. The opposite side the threaded hole is a welded nut which you don't touch, just the locknut on the opposite side. If the locknut was loose then the switch may have backed out a bit over time causing contact issues, you are best to check the contact and extend switch towards the firewall if needed (turning it clockwise after loosening the lock nut), and then locking the nut when done.

There are two switches on the clutch pedal one is fully closed when the clutch pedal is totally up and not engaged, this one is for the cruise control deactivation and is the lower of the two switches. The switch that is higher up is totally closed when the clutch pedal is pushed all the way down, that is the one that prevents the motor from starting unless the pedal contact pad is making full contact with the switch, this is the one to adjust. I have a picture of the lower switch posted below, the one with the red arrow pointing towards it is the one that is not related to the starting circuit (it is the cruise control switch), that may be the one you were referring to ?, the switch for the starting circuit is higher up and above the lower switch.

Not this switch which is closed when the pedal is fully up, the switch you want is higher up and it is closed when the clutch pedal is fully pushed down.

mcgina

So I adjusted the clutch switch, and it still doesn't start sometimes. I even manually held the button down and tried to start the car but still nothing any other ideas? still starts up jumping it no problem. Do you think it could possibly be the spark plugs?