89 Accord clutch safety switch problems driving me crazy

[Tylerzane]

Hi everyone

I have a 89 accord with a manual tranny. The car runs and drives great that is as long as it starts.
From my research I have found that there is a safety switch on the clutch which is fine except it does
not seem to work all the time. Usually it will start right up but sometimes when the clutch is depressed
it decides that it will not start and continues for some time. The only fix is to depress the clutch and then
let it spring up on its own depress the clutch and hope. This can take some time but eventually it will start
Is there a way to fix this or bypass this without losing the cruise control. Any help or pics are greatly
appreciated as this is so frustrating.

Thanks

[lostforawhile]

Hi everyone

I have a 89 accord with a manual tranny. The car runs and drives great that is as long as it starts.
From my research I have found that there is a safety switch on the clutch which is fine except it does
not seem to work all the time. Usually it will start right up but sometimes when the clutch is depressed
it decides that it will not start and continues for some time. The only fix is to depress the clutch and then
let it spring up on its own depress the clutch and hope. This can take some time but eventually it will start
Is there a way to fix this or bypass this without losing the cruise control. Any help or pics are greatly
appreciated as this is so frustrating.

Thanks

have you checked the little rubber bumper on the pedal arm? you dont want to bypass it, and use the cruise, as it's a safety issue, I believe the ECU also uses the switch as a status, if you need a switch I've got a spare I can send, I was going to install cruise on my DX, but never finished it, and dont need the switch

[Dr_Snooz]

Just splice the two wires going to the switch together and you'll have bypassed it. Like Lost said though, pushing the clutch in will no longer turn off the cruise control.

[HLW]

have you checked the little rubber bumper on the pedal arm? you dont want to bypass it, and use the cruise, as it's a safety issue, I believe the ECU also uses the switch as a status, if you need a switch I've got a spare I can send, I was going to install cruise on my DX, but never finished it, and dont need the switch

Just splice the two wires going to the switch together and you'll have bypassed it. Like Lost said though, pushing the clutch in will no longer turn off the cruise control.

The 89 Manual Accord has 2 switched on the clutch pedal. The one on the bottom is used by the cruise control. The top one is the clutch starter interlock switch that switches ground to a relay that switches ground for the starter solenoid. The clutch interlock switch has a small, yellow, 2-pin connector that is right of the under dash fuse box.

Remove the connector for the switch and jumper across the pins. If the car starts reliably, you either have a bad switch or a worn out plastic bumper. The switch has a lock nut that needs a 17mm wrench. If you unmount the under dash fuse box, you can you can get a 17MM open-end or combo wrench
in there and loosen the lock nut. Then remove the switch and reconnect it. With the switch connected hold the button on it in and start the car then turn the ignition off. Release the button and push it in again and start the car again. If the car reliably starts like this, the switch is good and you need to replace the plastic bumper on the top of the clutch pedal.

The clutch interlock switch is not monitored by the ECU so you can run the car with it bypassed until you get a new plastic bumper or switch (which ever needs to be replaced).

The plastic bumper is the same as is on the bottom of the clutch pedal and the brake pedal. They are still available from the dealer as Honda still uses that part on the 2013 Accords.