Clutch pressed in all the way... no turn over
 

I have a 88 vert and before I had to press the Clutch in as hard as I could for it to start the car. yesterday I was on lunch break I drove to 7/11 and turned it off, I came out and tried to start it back up and nothing happened. I know my battery and starter is fine. I'm thinking it could be my Ignition Switch because my car won't shut off, I'd take the whole key out and it'd still be running. Someone on this site said it could be the connection to the alternator, and or main fuses or relays. I haven't gotten to it yet, I used to put in 1st gear and slowly stall it out daily to turn it off. I just got the car by the way and the previous owner had an s5 alternator do he rigged up some green and red wire to the back of the alternator but it still charges right, just putting that out there. What could it be? I bearly hear any noises at all when I push the clutch in all the way and try to turn it over. what should I check?


all input would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

uhhh... the switch on the clutch sounds like a good place.

Interupt switch at and above the clutch pedal either became loose or broke. Reach under and short the two wires together and you will be fine until you fix/replace the switch.

Also, pull the shroud around the steering column and check to see if the screw that holds the ignition switching module is fully tightened.

The Interlock Switch is at the very top of the clutch and this is the item that you need to check first (don't be confused w/the other switch connected to the clutch pedal that has different colored wires). It has two wires with one wire being Black/Red and the other wire is Black/Green. The B/R wire should have voltage w/key to start. If it does then the ignition switch is not the problem. The B/G wire has voltage w/key to start w/the clutch depressed. If the B/R wire checks out as it should, but the B/G wire doesn't, then the Interlock Switch is likely faulty or the wire is pulled back in the plug. As mentioned, you can jumper the two wires at the switch plug and the B/G wire would then have voltage w/key to start w/o having to depress the clutch as this switch is now bypassed w/the jumper in place.

What color is the wires on this switch?

You said there's a switch on the top of the clutch? I gotta pull the tranny off just to get to this? or we're you talking about the switch everyone else is talking about above the clutch pedal

The clutch pedal.

ok I was like what?
and the people at the shop my family owns said my ignition switch and starter is bad, probably because I kept trying to see if it would start. I don't see how I made it worse tho because not a sound was coming from anything when I was trying to make it start.

If they are not familiar w/the Interlock Switch then that might lead them to believe it's something else unless they tested both items.

you can bypass the switch or get a used/new one. I remember the only way I could start some FCs 1/4 the time was holding the key to on and repeatedly kicking the clutch.

So the Starter was bad, kept getting oil in it so I had to knock it with a hammer a couple times. I got a new one but I'm trying to figure out why it the car won't turn off.. I'm putting in my new Ignition Switch at the moment.

Try pulling the BTN fuse in the engine fuse box. This fuse supplies constant voltage to the Buss fuses in the interior fuse box. If any of these fuses is backfeeding voltage to the IG1 fuses such as the Engine fuse then the car won't turn off. It could also be that the wires at the back of the alternator are reversed or one is grounding out. If the problem is a function of the ignition switch the way to test that would be to jumper two wires. At the front harness plug w/two wires that houses the Black wire and the Black/White wire to the respective wires from the ignition switch pigtail. So the Black wire gets jumpered to the wire it normally connects to from the switch pigtail and the same for the B/W wire. Then w/the car running pull the jumper for the B/W wire and if the car turns off then its the ignition switch. And if the starter were wired wrong that could also be the cause.

I put the new starter and ignition switch in and it still won't turn off. I think I said it before but the previous owner had an s5 alternator so I'm guess the stock s4 wires to the back of alternator wouldn't work with the S5 alternator but the Alternator still charges. he's got a red wire and a green wire hooked up to the back of it. And which BTN fuse is it? the 60 amp?

Yes, the BTN fuse is 60 amps. Check that first and see what happens. The S5 alternator wiring differs from the S4 in only one way. S4 B/W wire is powered by the Engine fuse but the S5 B/W wire would run to a constant voltage source and not switched power which the Engine fuse is.

EDIT: The other wire on the S5 alt. runs to the CPU just like the S4 (this wire causes the idiot lights to turn on w/key to on). And the constant voltage source for the S5 alt. usually comes from the Engine fuse box so look at that fuse box and try to find a wire that matches one of the wires to the back of your alternator.

I took some pics of the Alternator and the Connection to it

Look in the link supplied and toggle down until you see the diagrams for the alternator wiring for the S5. The B terminal in your pics is the large Black cable bolted to the alternator and this is not your possible problem. The possible problem would be from the plug that houses two wires on the back. The S terminal is closest to the B terminal. This S terminal wire runs to a "constant" source voltage and is usually found at the Engine fuse box. So you need to see what color wire your S terminal is and find it at the Engine fuse box. The "L" terminal runs to the CPU. Normally it is a W/B wire. So go to the CPU and locate the largest of the three plugs which is the one that houses the W/B wire. Disconnect this plug and the plug to the back of the alternator and perform a continuity test to see which of the two wires on the back of the alternator is connected to this W/B wire. You need to disconnect the battery to do this in your case. Once the battery is disconnected you could then also do a continuity test for the wire on the back of the alternator which should run to the Engine fuse box.

And did you pull the BTN fuse or not? Did you pull the BTN fuse or not??

https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generati...faq-fc-494667/

Alright, cool. And yea I did it before when the engine was running and it didn't turn off

And do your idiot lights light up w/key to on or not?

yea they come on

what's this plug for?

One of the ACV solenoids. Either Port Air or Split Air.

oh ok, are the idiot lights supposed to come on with the BTN fuse taken out?

Don't believe they're related.

what you were talking about those lights in relation to?

The BTN fuse and the idiot lights.

yeaa lol I pulled the fuse out and they were on with the ignition in the on position

Absolutely normal.

You could pull the plug off of the back of the alternator and see if the car still runs. You could remove the two wire plug to the Main Relay and see if the car still runs as this will tell you if the relay is stuck closed or not. You could pull the 15 amp Engine fuse and see if the car turns off (this should definitely turn the car off).

And do the idiot lights stay on w/the car running as they should not.

where is this main relay at?

and I don't see a 15amp fuse

Engine fuse is in the interior fuse box. Main Relay is located by the trailing coil and has 4 wire plug in addition to the two wire plug.

Ok so I checked the 15amp Engine fuse It's good. All I did was take it out and put it back in and then it turns off -___- maybe the Main relay is stuck closed? I'm not sure

If the fuse was not good then the car would not run. It's not about the fuse being good or not, but why is it receiving voltage when it plainly should not. What you should do is pull the two wire plug at the Main Relay and check to see if the B/W wire has voltage to it as it should not. Do this w/the Engine fuse in place and the engine off. And do you have a multimeter?

And do your idiot lights stay on w/the car running. This is rather important and I'm not asking just to waste time.

I've got one but It got wet one time outside. And if it still works then I'll check it

So is the 2 wire plug on the left?

The Main Relay has two plugs. One plug w/four wires has a B/W wire, a B/G wire, a B/Y wire, and a White/Blue wire. The other plug has two wires one is B/W and the other is Black. The question which begs being asked is why are you asking how to solve a problem when you have no way of diagnosing it? You need a multimeter and one that works.

well true, but I've got another problem now. Won't start.. wtf

Did you disconnect the plug(s) to the Main Relay and forget to plug them back in for the car will not start if either is unplugged. Same goes for the Engine fuse. Did you pull the Engine fuse and forget to plug it back in?

no everything is in place I'm getting low voltage to where it turns off on its own

So the car starts up but dies due to low voltage? And you realize the low voltage by the voltmeter gauge. If so, then your alternator is likely problematic. If this were the case then recharge the battery and unplug the alternator's two wire plug and then try turning off the car in the normal fashion.

I've just kept jump starting it, trying to get it back to my house with a friend and when it turns off we just start the process over again. So your saying unplug the wires to the back of the Alternator, charge the battery and run it off the battery?

Just to see if the car turns off in a proper manner. If it did then you've isolated the problem.

Just to add to what satch said, I wouldn't try to run it for very long with out a working alt unless your in the market for a new battery anyways but if you, for some reason, have a deep cycle battery you might not kill it depending on how far you are moving it.

gotcha

Yea I'm gonna try and get a new Alternator and try and find STOCK wires to the back of it so I won't have to deal with no stupid stuff