I have a friend visiting me from Dallas with his girlfriend. Me, my wife, and they decided to go pick up some Filipino food from a restaurant for dinner. We piled into my car and I started it. When I started it I noticed a barely audible popping sound. The kind of sound of a thin piece of plastic snapping. It didn't make sense to me, the car seemed fine, and I had company so I forgot about it.

We arrived at our destination and go in to the restaurant to order some food to go. A few minutes after we order, my friend and I decide to go to the grocery store to pick up some other items. We get into my car and it won't start. The engine won't crank at all. I check to see if my electronics work and they do. So it's not the battery I'm thinking. My friend was checking the fuses and we were both wondering if it was the starter.

After fiddling with it for 15 minutes, I recall the little sound of plastic snapping that I heard when we first left my place. I decide to check around the driver's seat for anything suspicious. I find this little black piece of plastic, that is obviously broken off of something, near the pedals. I look up underneath the steering wheel where the pedals are connect and I see something hanging there. I couldn't really tell what it was. It was a little black box about 2" wide with a gray pin-like piece of plastic sticking out of it about 2" long as well. The pin was spring loaded and I could push it in and it would slide back out. I figured, "what the hell" and press it in and turn the key. The car starts.

It turns out it was a switch to notify the computer that the clutch is depressed. So the car wouldn't start because it thought the clutch was out. The box had a couple little hook-like parts that secure it to the metal that it's attached to (so I was able to stick it back on), but the part that really locks it in was the part that snapped off. I don't know how the heck it snapped off. It was obviously loose but it's not like I kick around my pedals when I'm driving or anything like that so I don't know how it got loose. Hopefully the dealer with replace the part for me under warranty. It's not bad, but I'd like to have it secured. I guess I'll have to secure it better myself it they won't replace it.

Anyway, just sharing something I learned today. On another note, I had fun at ZoomZoomLive today

 

Good situational awarness breif man. Never seen this prob on a new car though. This just happened to my 92' Nissan a few weeks ago, but the prob was on the brake pedal so the brake lights stayed on all he time. I "Macguyver'd" it with bubblegum I was chewing and a penny from the floorboard.