I am having a very weird problem with my 1999 civic ex 5spd. All of sudden my civic is making a grinding noise when I press the clutch in any gear. Along with the grinding noise, external/interior lights dim and brake light in the dash flashes. The car drives fines and shifts gears. It sounds and looks like the starter is engaged when I press the clutch thus the grinding noise. The car thinks I am trying to start the car. if i lightly tip the clutch and shift then the car is fine. It only happens if I firmly press the clutch like when starting the car.

I turned off the car and started again the problem disappeared. I have a loose ignition module and key comes out even while driving. How can I verify it is the car ignition not the tranny? How hard is to replace the ignition module? or do i need to replace the switch?

All help will be appreciated.

 

you mean the lock cylinder if the key is slipping out, but the grinding noise when you press the clutch in would make me say TOB. was the car even a theft recovery ?

 

i don't think the car was a theft recovery.

How can i test the clutch TOB?

 

gotta drop the trans lol but typically any noise associated with pushing in the clutch and then stopping when it's released is the throw out bearing. can you get a vid of the noise ? sounds like someone hacked something in like an alarm.

 

The issue happened for the first time last night. I have driven the car over 100 miles since then. Last night when it happened for the first time, i restarted the car and that fixed the issue. this morning I confirmed the noise from the car is exactly as same if you were to start a car that is already started. The starter is coming "ON" when the clutch is pressed.

I researched more last night and found that on a 5-speed car, the clutch "Press" motion activates some switch for turning the car "ON". If the car is not started, the key is place, and clutch is pressed the car tries to start the car by hitting the starter. That is exactly what’s going on here in my opinion. What I can't figure it what is the issue the key cylinder, starter module or combination. I want to get some debugging/diagnostic steps before I start taking things apart or buying in new parts.

How can I test the Throw out bearing? Or is it the transmission? As far as I know the transmission is working fine (knock on wood). Does the clutch, TOB or transmission fail or breakdown over time?
As I stated before I know I have bad loose key cylinder since the car key simply slides out while driving sometimes.

 

The starter switch at the top of the clutch pedal should receive voltage when the key is in ON(III) but not ON(II).

Test:

1. Turn the key from off to the ON(II) position (engine off).
2. When you depress the clutch pedal, does the starter crank the engine?

 

^^You beat me to it...

 

So it's that grinding noise as if you were to try and start a car that's already started ?. disregard the TOB suggestion if so. going to mess up your ring gear/idler gear on the starter tho.

 

I confirmed it is a key cylinder issue. I am not going to debug it further. If it ever happens again, i will just push the key in.

 

I am seeing a lot of issues with the key-ignition switches and cylinders on these year Civics. So that makes sense.

 

A similar issue happened to my 99 GSR a number of years ago. It would drive along fine, but randomly shut off...I later found out the key cylinder was shot. After replacing it, it ran like a champ