akfroggy

'92 2500 cummins w/ intercooler. Intermittent problem the wait to start light goes out I press on the clutch ,turn the key and nothing. sometimes if I hold the key for a few seconds it will start. Is there a safety switch on the clutch that I can bypass or adjust? -6 this morning It's been started at -30 so I don't think it's a temp issue although it never happens during the summer. Any ideas?
-mike

Chrisreyn

yes there is a clutch safety switch located on teh pedal rod against the firewall. are you moving the clutch pedal any to get it to start? curious why you think its teh safety switch. It could also be a problem with a poor or corroded ground, or a corroded connection at eh starter, causing resistance that it is taking a moment to overcome.

akfroggy

I'm shooting in the dark about the safety switch, it's just a maybe. I just came back in after trying to start it again and it seems like it might be a relay problem with the grid heaters. I heard the relay pop when the wait to start light went off the first time but now I don't hear anything. I still can't figure out why the engine won't even turn over.That's what made me think it was the clutch switch.

Hayseed

That pop or snap sounds like a battery arc. Clean the terminals and cables on the battery and see if this fixes it. I have the same problems on some of my farm equip if I don't regularly service the batteries.

akfroggy

I'm sorry about the pop description what I meant was that I could hear the relays cycle off. The wiring looks good. everything is tight but the truck won't even turn over. It did this a couple of times last winter but it always eventually started. Now it seems like it isn't going to fix itself.

Chrisreyn

so its totally a dead key? the starter isnt turning over?

akfroggy

Sometimes I have to hate computers... I just typed up a big reply and poof!!! One wrong keystroke and it's gone.

Here's the deal so far, I fired up the jet heater (diesel space heater) to warm up the engine compartment. In the meantime my wife reminds me that when this happened last year I told her to try moving the floor mat out from behind the clutch pedal. At the time it sounded like the clutch switch wasn't allowing the starter to kick in. So I go back outside turn the key on wait for the heater to kick off, (didn't see any movement on the voltmeter ) then slammed my foot to the floor and it started right up.
I don't know if it is the clutch switch or the fact that I warmed up the engine compartment that is the answer.

I'm in the process of warming up the passenger compartment (via a space heater) enough to peel the floor mat out of the cab. Once things are frozen inside your car up here in Fairbanks they pretty much stay frozen until next summer. Once I get it thawed out I'm going to peel that floor mat out and I want to bypass the clutch switch. I sure don't need some edit switch telling me to put my foot on the clutch before I try to start the engine!

Other than that I plan to double check that the grid heaters are actually working, that's got me kinda concerned. I'll let you know how it goes so that anyone else that might have this problem can learn from my pain.

Life in Fairbanks AK. sucks without a garage

-mike

wannadiesel

The problem may not be the switch itself, but worn out bushings in the pushrod eye. If the clutch pedal sits lower than the brake pedal, check out those bushings. By the time I found it on mine the pin on the pedal was worn halfway through and the pushrod eye was worn so thin I broke it with my fingers. I fixed it by cutting off the pushrod eye and replacing it with a rod end, and replaced the pin on the pedal with a bolt.

akfroggy

Thanks for the heads up Wannadiesel. It looks OK for the time being but it's something I'll want to keep an eye one. Sorry about the edit I thought I hid it enough with the bells and whistles that it wouldn't offend anyone.

Thanks to everyone else that chimed in it sure did help. The truck starts fine now, though it's been around 15 above for the last 2 days. I think I can wait for another -20 or -30 until next winter. I'm going to by pass the clutch switch just in case though.
-mike

REF>Lancer

Mine did that,sometimes it would start,sometimes I'd have to try a couple of times,turned out to be the contacts in the starter.
top of the page here http://www.fostertruck.com/dodge/
I got mine from a local place here,$15 or something like that,pull the starter and change em' no sweat.
Not sure what truck you are working on,but that was my problem.