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Re: The tiny piece of rubber that makes your car not start
Apologies in advance for throwing my problem on this thread, just thought since I had a similar problem I'd put it here.
I just recently ran into this problem on my 98 Civic DX. When it happened to the brake safety switch, taping a penny to the pedal in lieu of the rubber stopper worked great. However, the distance between where the clutch pedal rubber stopper was and the clutch safety switch is a much larger gap for my case, not to mention that I can't actually reach it without the aid of a Flathead screwdriver.
I was going to try just putting a bolt in there with a head thick enough to reach the switch but being the extreme novice mechanic that I am, I'm not sure how to go about getting a bolt in there. Is it worth the pain removing the clutch pedal for this? I noticed someone mentioned a bypass. Anyone able to give simple instructions on how to do this?
Re: The tiny piece of rubber that makes your car not start
You could remove the switch and mount it so you can push the button in with your finger. Epoxy a nut or something on the pedal? Get a piece of rubber and make a little hole or whatever you have to and epoxy it on? I'm not sure exactly what this rubber piece is, I have my switch bypassed for now (just did an auto to manual conversion, and have more important things to finish first).
Re: The tiny piece of rubber that makes your car not start
Taking the switch out of the mounting bracket so that I can push it with my finger looks to be a more manageable job than removing the clutch pedal given the cramped working space. I'll give it a try.
Re: The tiny piece of rubber that makes your car not start
I had this exact thing happen to me at work the other day. Went to start my car nothing happened. I just assumed it was the starter for some reason, so I bought one from Autozone. Jumped the two points on my starter to start my car so I could get home. Got home and decided to look online to see if it was something simpler than a starter, saw a few threads like this one and went out and checked to see if my little rubber piece was there and low and behold it was missing. Took the clutch pedal completely out of the car and super glued a penny in there and I have yet to have a problem since and I got my 90 dollars back I spent on the starter .
I suggest taking the whole pedal assembly out to do this. I also suggest you remove the kick panel and the metal guard (sorry for the lack of better terminology) behind the kick panel to do it, it will give you alot more room. I tried every angle to try and wedge my hands in there to place the penny and there was no way I could do it without taking the pedal out. It took maybe 10 minutes to loosen the 2 bolts on the firewall and the one right above the sensor and just seconds to take the pins out on the master cylinder. Re-installation took less time than that.
Re: The tiny piece of rubber that makes your car not start
Taking the pedal out was the way to go. All it took was a socket wrench with a 14mm attachment for the main bolt holding the pedal in place and some pliers for the pin on the clutch cylinder. Once I got the pedal out, I secured a bolt into the hole where the rubber stopper was because the gap on mine was too big for a penny to hit the switch. The main pain was putting the pedal back in as I couldn't get the spring to stay in place long enough for me to put the main bolt back in. I finally figured out that I could put a temporary smaller bolt in the side I could see to hold the clutch and spring in place while feeling around for the place to put the real bolt in on the blind side I couldn't see.
Re: The tiny piece of rubber that makes your car not start
**SOLUTION**:
My car wouldn't start due to crumbled clutch interlock stopper pad which I found in pieces below dash. Impossible to access with fingers. Rather than try to rig up penny or bolt temp fix, I popped out other stopper pad from clutch pedal that is much more accessible and not having it installed only causes cruise control not to work (rather than car not start). Rather than attempt PITA removal of clutch assembly or bracket, I used the long screwdriver with double sided duct tape trick, sticking pedal stopper pad onto end of screwdriver, it was able to fit all the way up to its pedal destination hole. I had a bendy light positioned on other side of hole so that it illuminated the stopped pad point when I was on the mark. Then I pressed it in and really cranked down on it, using a lot of leverage on the screwdriver. I heard a loud pop and thought I had broken something but it had just popped right into hole and problem solved. Car starts fine and have ordered new pedal stopper pad off ebay for $5 to put in more accessible hole and get my cruise control back. Definitely requires awkward bending under the dash but doable and took a few minutes once I committed to screwdriver method.
Re: The tiny piece of rubber that makes your car not start
Hey you guys, quick question, so I just ran into this same problem, but after replacing the tiny rubber piece my car still doesn't turn on.. any suggestions? The starter I replaced it about 3 years ago... so I don't think that's the issue but at the same time I can discard the option. And the safety button is not locked because I can still push it with my finger...
Re: The tiny piece of rubber that makes your car not start
Originally Posted by Roman00
Hey you guys, quick question, so I just ran into this same problem, but after replacing the tiny rubber piece my car still doesn't turn on.. any suggestions? The starter I replaced it about 3 years ago... so I don't think that's the issue but at the same time I can discard the option. And the safety button is not locked because I can still push it with my finger...
Did you replace the correct one ? There are two on the clutch pedal... the lower one (closer to the pedal pad where you place your foot) is to cancel cruise control. The pad at the top of the pedal high up in the dash is the one for the clutch switch. If this is the one that you did in fact replace... you either have a bad starter or the starter wire is an issue.
Re: The tiny piece of rubber that makes your car not start
Originally Posted by JRCivic1
Did you replace the correct one ? There are two on the clutch pedal... the lower one (closer to the pedal pad where you place your foot) is to cancel cruise control. The pad at the top of the pedal high up in the dash is the one for the clutch switch. If this is the one that you did in fact replace... you either have a bad starter or the starter wire is an issue.
bro thank you so very much I did not knew that! My car is up and running now thank you!!
Re: The tiny piece of rubber that makes your car not start
Just an FYI, for anyone facing this in the future - Dorman part 74015 works. Its designed for brake pedals, but works for clutch as well. Can pick up at AutoZone, or probably any other major parts shop.
Re: The tiny piece of rubber that makes your car not start
Pleas can someone tell me where I put the rubber piece my ex put tape up there and got it start but the tape just fell out now I don’t no where to put the rubber peice to make my car start I keep looking under there trying to find it but have no clue where to find it pleas help
Re: The tiny piece of rubber that makes your car not start
Originally Posted by Chrisfrom1986
It's way up there.
Damm ok been looking in the wrong place this whole time we’ll any suggestions on how to get to it without messing up my car up there is the front pannel under the wheel like a peice of plastic that hides all the wires is there. A way to take it off our basically how can I get to it our is just best to shove my hand up there I guess I’m just trying to figure out how I can get to it I don’t wanna put the peice in the wrong place I wish I could see where to put it but if have any suggestions on how to do that would be greatly appreciatedAlso thank you for letting me know I could not figure out for the life of me where the hell it was but now that makes sense LOL
Re: The tiny piece of rubber that makes your car not start
You have to take a flashlight and look up there and feel around for where it goes. It's a pain in the *** and it's going to fall a bunch of times. You have to push it in there pretty good too. You'll get it eventually though and with smaller hands you'll probably have an easier time.
07-23-2011, 01:20 PM
The tiny piece of rubber that makes your car not start
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