Clutch pedal issue

[NathanOfSeattle]

Purchased a 2000 4Runner SR5 over the weekend and am lovin' it so far. It is a manual, which took forever to find. Why aren't there more manuals out there?

Anyway, I purchased the car with some known issues. The first one I wanted to ask was, there apparently is an issue where the engine won't start when pressing the clutch pedal. It only starts when pressing the "clutch start" button by the steering wheel. From the manual I read that I should not use this on a regular basis. The mechanic wants to charge me $45 just to investigate. Thought I would ask here to see if anyone knows or has run into this problem. Any thoughts?

 

[pat161]

There is a sensor under there which transmits a message when you depress the clutch pedal. That sensor is either not plugged in or has malfunctioned. Get under there and take a look and check all your fuses. Using the clutch start cancel to start your truck is not bad, using it the way it is supposed to be used all the time is not a good idea. The clutch start cancel is designed to be used to start your truck when rolling backwards would be bad and of course we don't have 3 feet. As an example you stall out on a steep rocky hill climb and holding the brake is the only way to avoid rolling back down, so you put it in 1st, press the CSC switch and turn the truck over while giving it gas, once it takes you let off the brake and up the hill you go.

 

[Batsoff]

I have something similiar going on... it's pretty infrequent, but it does happen.

I tried replacing the sensor (nuetral safety switch, 8452024010) that the clutch depresses when fully engaged, but that didn't help. There's a also a sensor up top that the clutch also depresses when not engaged.

Hoping someone has a quick fix for the issue... guessing it's either the 2 sensors or the clutch cancel switch that is having issues.

-batsoff

 

[NathanOfSeattle]

Thanks for the ideas. Can all these sensors be found right by the clutch pedal? Are they hard to replace?

 

[nighthawk]

I know a few manual tranny 4Runner owners (still jealous of them!) that basically say you have to push the clutch all the way down to the very bottom to activate the switch. When someone else tries starting and doesn't push it quite far enough, it won't start. Not sure if you are indeed pushing it far enough.