Car randomly doesn't want to start

Brandon08GT · Jul 7, 2017

So this is kind of an oddball and I've tried searching to see if anyone had anything similar but I didn't find anything. In the past 2 months, 4 times my car simply did not want to start. First time it happened was on my road trip from California to Florida. Took the battery out and went to a local autozone and it was perfect. Put it back in and it fired right up. Figured it was a gremlin and that was that. Well it's happened three times since. It won't try to turn over or anything. Car is a manual so I though maybe clutch sensor or whatever it's called, by everything looks fine. And 98% of the time it starts up without any issue at all. To get it working when it acts up, I don't do anything different. It'll just eventually work. Anybody have anything similar or can point me in a direction to look?

BruceH · Jul 7, 2017

Brandon08GT said:
So this is kind of an oddball and I've tried searching to see if anyone had anything similar but I didn't find anything. In the past 2 months, 4 times my car simply did not want to start. First time it happened was on my road trip from California to Florida. Took the battery out and went to a local autozone and it was perfect. Put it back in and it fired right up. Figured it was a gremlin and that was that. Well it's happened three times since. It won't try to turn over or anything. Car is a manual so I though maybe clutch sensor or whatever it's called, by everything looks fine. And 98% of the time it starts up without any issue at all. To get it working when it acts up, I don't do anything different. It'll just eventually work. Anybody have anything similar or can point me in a direction to look?

I think you already hit it. Either the clutch pedal isn't far enough down or the sensor adjustment isn't right.

Brandon08GT · Jul 7, 2017

BruceH said:
I think you already hit it. Either the clutch pedal isn't far enough down or the sensor adjustment isn't right.

It's just bizarre that it's only done it four times out of the 1,000 (exaggeration) that I've done over the past two months. How can I adjust it?

JUSTA3V · Jul 7, 2017

Get under the dash and function the clutch. Bend it if necessary. It's easy. I had to do it when my cruise control stopped working.

It's just a metal tab that stops a plastic slide on the pedal

Brandon08GT · Jul 7, 2017

JUSTA3V said:
Get under the dash and function the clutch. Bend it if necessary. It's easy. I had to do it when my cruise control stopped working.

It's just a metal tab that stops a plastic slide on the pedal

When I look at it like that, it all looks fine. The trigger goes all the way in like it seems like it should.

07gts197 · Jul 7, 2017

To add fuel to the fire...

My 07 will do this too sometimes and if I push the pedal down literally a hair it will start. Im guessing mine needs to get adjusted. Perhaps theyre very finicky about how far they need to be depressed? To me it sounds like it.

Brandon08GT · Jul 7, 2017

07gts197 said:
To add fuel to the fire...

My 07 will do this too sometimes and if I push the pedal down literally a hair it will start. Im guessing mine needs to get adjusted. Perhaps theyre very finicky about how far they need to be depressed? To me it sounds like it.

Maybe. Just blows my mind that I've put 60,000 miles on the car in 4 years and it never did it until two months ago. And like I said, only four times total. I don't do anything different when I start the car. Even when it finally works I don't do anything different.

Maybe the clutch switch is slowly going bad? I figured with electronics, when it goes, it goes. Not anything in between.

07gts197 · Jul 7, 2017

Brandon08GT said:
Maybe. Just blows my mind that I've put 60,000 miles on the car in 4 years and it never did it until two months ago. And like I said, only four times total. I don't do anything different when I start the car. Even when it finally works I don't do anything different.

Maybe the clutch switch is slowly going bad? I figured with electronics, when it goes, it goes. Not anything in between.

Yes and no, if it was an intermittent short it would only give you problems sometimes. Im inclined to believe the sensor itself has slightly moved and now its harder for the switch to be tripped all the way. Just a guess. You could (I would recommend a helper lol) push on the clutch various distances and see if that may affect starting. Or it could be a random issue but Im willing to bet your issue is similar to mine. If it happens again keep the key turned and try pushing the clutch in more.

Brandon08GT · Jul 7, 2017

07gts197 said:
Yes and no, if it was an intermittent short it would only give you problems sometimes. Im inclined to believe the sensor itself has slightly moved and now its harder for the switch to be tripped all the way. Just a guess. You could (I would recommend a helper lol) push on the clutch various distances and see if that may affect starting. Or it could be a random issue but Im willing to bet your issue is similar to mine. If it happens again keep the key turned and try pushing the clutch in more.

That's the weird part. I push the clutch in the same every time. It'll just magically work. I went out this evening after the Florida heat gave me a break and played with the switch with my hand. It needs to be in a good amount to start, but every time I start the car, I always push the clutch as far as it goes. I've done that with all my cars for my 15 years of driving. It's pretty much a muscle memory habit.

Turbotungsten · Jul 8, 2017

Next time it happens, have someone push down on the back of the power distribution box over where the starter relay is while you start it. My car does this frequently and works every time. I have taken apart the entire box and cleaned contact and changed relays with no help, but this trick works. Might not be your problem though.

RocketcarX · Jul 8, 2017

I used to have to stand on my clutch pedal sometimes until I bent that soft ass tab to make it engage a little further off the floor. It's crazy how easily it bent.

Brandon08GT · Jul 8, 2017

Turbotungsten said:
Next time it happens, have someone push down on the back of the power distribution box over where the starter relay is while you start it. My car does this frequently and works every time. I have taken apart the entire box and cleaned contact and changed relays with no help, but this trick works. Might not be your problem though.

Where is this box you speak of? And the probably is, it's usually at the most inconvenient time. Twice it happened at a busy gas station and I have to wait at a pump and keep trying until it fires up. Extremely annoying and slightly embarrassing.

Brandon08GT · Jul 8, 2017

RocketcarX said:
I used to have to stand on my clutch pedal sometimes until I bent that soft ass tab to make it engage a little further off the floor. It's crazy how easily it bent.

How often would it have the issues before you fixed it?

86GT351 · Jul 8, 2017

Here is a list of components that can be related to the starting system.

Mechanical Electrical

Starter motor
Flexplate
Flywheel

Battery
Smart Junction Box (SJB) fuse 21 (10A)
Bussed Electrical Center (BEC) fuse 4 (30A)
Anti-theft system
Damaged wiring harness
Loose or corroded connections

The Smart Junction Box breaking down internally could be a very suspect cause also!

Brandon08GT · Jul 8, 2017

86GT351 said:
Here is a list of components that can be related to the starting system.

Mechanical Electrical

Starter motor

Flexplate

Flywheel

Battery

Smart Junction Box (SJB) fuse 21 (10A)

Bussed Electrical Center (BEC) fuse 4 (30A)

Anti-theft system

Damaged wiring harness

Loose or corroded connections

The Smart Junction Box breaking down internally could be a very suspect cause also!

Where is that located? I can take a peak at it.

redfirepearlgt · Jul 9, 2017

Smart junction box is located in the passengers side kick panel. The BEC in case you weren't aware is under the hood on the left front side.

If still in doubt of the clutch pedal switch...jumper it out. Its only two wires. For that matter its only a switch that can't be that expensive. Just replace it. Then if the problem continues you can focus on the rest of the circuit.

RocketcarX · Jul 9, 2017

Brandon08GT said:
How often would it have the issues before you fixed it?

1 in 10 attempts to start, I developed a habit of standing on the pedal, that was when I decided to try bending the tab.

Turbotungsten · Jul 9, 2017

The power distribution box (probably officially BEC) is under the hood in the right front, just in front of the strut tower.

46addict · Jul 10, 2017

My car requires standing on the pedal to start too. I thought this was a case of me not being strong enough/too lazy to overcome the Exedy clutch, but maybe my tab just needs bent.

Brandon08GT · Jul 10, 2017

46addict said:
My car requires standing on the pedal to start too. I thought this was a case of me not being strong enough/too lazy to overcome the Exedy clutch, but maybe my tab just needs bent.

Hmm... I have an exedy too that was installed in February. Mach 400 by any chance? I got underneath the dash and pushed the clutch with my hand to see how far it needed to go down to allow it to start and it is a pretry good ways. But I would think it'd happen more often if the tab needed to be bent.

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