Car won't start on "D", "1", "2", "R"

[Razor]

Hi
My car doesn't start on drive, 1, 2, or reverse
it only starts on neutral and Park
anyone knows whats wrong?

[seerex]

is the car an automatic?

[Gee]

..and it shouldn't! It's to stop you doing damage. Imagine if you tried to start a manual with your foot off the clutch!

[Razor]

yes its automatic transmission
its obvious cos of drive = "D"
my other car starts on drive, 1 , 2, reverse

hmmmm

[Alfadog]

Gareth is correct - it's not meant to be able to be started in gear. Youve got no problem there! :D

[EScanlon]

Your OTHER car needs a new transmission starter interlock switch.

2¢
Enrique

[seerex]

well I never assume anything but yes the safety start switch stop that from happening

[cnixzgo]

My car starts ONLY in N, but that's because my bushings are worn out and i need to replace them:cry:

[Razor]

thanks guys

[kyteler]

Hey man,

AS people have pointed out.. it's not supposed to.. when you swap in the Manual transmission you have to put together the two wires that once went to either side of the switch as to complete the starter circuit.

It's called the Inhibitor Switch, basically breaks your ignition circuit if you're in anything other than Neutral or Park to stop you surging forward or backwards or doing anything silly :)

Nothing to worry about.

[Zrush]

Originally posted by Gee
..and it shouldn't! It's to stop you doing damage. Imagine if you tried to start a manual with your foot off the clutch!

I have in many a manual cars :stupid: It just lurches forward. But I don't think the car would ever actually start..........would it? I've never got that far, as I've always freaked out and said to myself, what an azz I amLOL

Vicky

[sblake01]

Originally posted by Zrush
I have in many a manual cars :stupid: It just lurches forward. But I don't think the car would ever actually start..........would it? Vicky

Yes, it would start. That's a way to drive home in a car when the clutch won't disengage. Turn it off at each stop. When the light changes, put in first and crank the starter until it starts and lurches away, slam it into second, third, etc. I did that a couple of times in my younger, stupider days but now I'd call AAA.

[MikeW]

Originally posted by Zrush
I have in many a manual cars :stupid: It just lurches forward. But I don't think the car would ever actually start..........would it?


In addition to SBlake01's story here's one that may actually help you someday: if your battery or starter ever fails you can bump start the car. I used to do this on my gently sloping driveway. Turn the ignition to "on", push the clutch in, put the car in reverse (if the road surface slopes backwards or 1st if it slopes forwards), push in the clutch, and finally take the emergency brake off. Once the car gets rolling quickly let the clutch out. If your car is in reasonably good tune it will crank right up at which point you quickly push the clutch back in to keep it from stalling. You can use this same trick on a level surface providing you have someone else to push the car fast enough to get it cranked.

[Zrush]

Yes, I know about the push start with a manual car. But I'm confused on the "Clutch Disengage". Is that like what some of my friends used to do when they shifted the car without pushing the clutch in?

Vicky

[MikeW]

Originally posted by Zrush
Yes, I know about the push start with a manual car. But I'm confused on the "Clutch Disengage". Is that like what some of my friends used to do when they shifted the car without pushing the clutch in?


I didn't use the word "disengage", Stephen did. When you're driving the clutch is engaged. When you push the clutch pedal in it becomes "disengaged", i.e., the engine is disconnected from the transmission and therefore the drive wheels. In Stephen's case pushing the clutch pedal in failed to disengage the clutch so he nursed the car home the hard way. This could happen if the fluid is low since the system is hydraulic. What your friends used to do is shifting with the clutch intentionally still engaged (and yes, that's how Stephen got his car into higher gears without using the clutch). This can be done only if the engine and transmission are moving at the same speed which means you yank it into neutral and then give it just the right amount of gas for the engine to match speed of the gear you intend to go into. I wouldn't recommend that either ...

[ChrisA]

Originally posted by MikeW
This can be done only if the engine and transmission are moving at the same speed which means you yank it into neutral and then give it just the right amount of gas for the engine to match speed of the gear you intend to go into. I wouldn't recommend that either ...

A guy I know always shifted his Honda CRX without using the clutch pedal (except to get going). He got really mad when the transaxle blew up one day!!:stupid: :stupid: :stupid:


Chris

[beandip]

Shifting the tranny with out the use of the clutch is hard on the clutches inside the transmission . They are there to align the gears so they don't clash when the change is made normaly. If you force the gear change the strain on the metal disks will cause undue wear . this also happends when a speed shift is done . If you dont know what that is . It's when you keep your gas peddel to the floor and just hit he cluch and shift as fast as you can . If NOT done right the engine and or trans will act like a hand gernade. Done correctly it keeps the engine RPMs spooled up. This is done in cycle raceing all the time and I used to do this in my street raceing days and only dropped one trans. . This is hard on the running gear and the wallet .

[sblake01]

Originally posted by MikeW
What your friends used to do is shifting with the clutch intentionally still engaged (and yes, that's how Stephen got his car into higher gears without using the clutch). This can be done only if the engine and transmission are moving at the same speed which means you yank it into neutral and then give it just the right amount of gas for the engine to match speed of the gear you intend to go into. I wouldn't recommend that either ...

Remember, I did say it was in my younger and stupider days!:classic:

[Zrush]

Originally posted by Zrush
Yes, I know about the push start with a manual car. But I'm confused on the "Clutch Disengage". Is that like what some of my friends used to do when they shifted the car without pushing the clutch in?

Vicky

Me too Stephen. My friends and I were younger and stupider also, plus they were trying to be cool and show how they could shift without the clutch depressed. This was way back in the 70's.

Vicky

[MikeW]

Originally posted by sblake01
Remember, I did say it was in my younger and stupider days!:classic:

Hey, sometimes you don't have a choice. The one time I couldn't get my clutch engaged was when I was about 20 years old and was 250 miles from home. I popped the hood and knew barely enough to check the clutch master cylinder reservoir. It was full of a black sludge which I attempted to clean out with the nearest paper towel. I then remembered that I just happed to have a container of brake fluid in the car. I had no idea if that was the same stuff but figured I'd pour some in and see what happened. It did the trick and as I recall I didn't touch it again for many many years.

[ryoojin83]

Ah the joys of clutchless shifting! I'm still young and admittedly very stupid, but im going to college for that! :stupid: I always teach clutchless shifting to my "pupils" after they get used to driving with the clutch, gives them a sense of accomplishment when they can upshift and downshift without the clutch! :stupid:

[gema]

It's rumored that clutchless shifting isn't harmful to cars with straight-cut gears...

any truth to this?

[Mr Camouflage]

Originally posted by Razor
yes its automatic transmission
its obvious cos of drive = "D"
my other car starts on drive, 1 , 2, reverse

hmmmm
This is normal Autos are only supposed to start in N or P.

:finger: Your other car is illegal to use on the road. Cops would give you a defect notice if they tested it. or noticed you starting it in anything other than D or P.

And Changing gears without using the clutch is possible. Truck Drivers do it all the time (but they use a clutch). Its called double clutching. You're in one gear, put it in neutral, match the revs to the speed of the gear that you want to change to (thats the hard part), and put it into gear.