Clutch switch

M_Bolc

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2006
Messages
798
Location
San Jos?, Costa Rica
Car(s)
2015 Audi A3 1.2TFSI
So, I have a US import VW Golf III, and thanks to the nannying imposed by lawyers and such, every time I start the car I have to depress the clutch.
I have never driven a car like that, and it's annoying to say the least, all my cars have been manual but never with this stupid system.

Is there a way to disable it? Will joining the wires together allow me to start my car without any hassle? I usually park in neutral anyways, and have never been even close to an accident from starting the engine in-gear.
 
There must be a way to disable it, shouldn't be rocket science :p Check out the wiring diagrams if you have them, should make it a alot easier! And btw, I would like to have that kind of switch in my car so my mom and aunties would stop trying to start the in the gear they left it in when they parked 'themselves'.
 
I live in a country where 90% of cars are manual, we know to check if a car is in gear before starting it.
And I don't park in gear because that's what the parking brake is for, unless it is on a hill there's no real reason to leave it in gear.
 
I park in gear. It is a precaution incase the parking brakes does fail.
 
And I don't park in gear because that's what the parking brake is for, unless it is on a hill there's no real reason to leave it in gear.

Speaking as someone who leaves it in gear with the handbrake off I reckon there's no reason to leave the handbrake on.
 
Just about every manual car I ever seen requires the clutch to be depressed.
 
Speaking as someone who leaves it in gear with the handbrake off I reckon there's no reason to leave the handbrake on.
Because then the car is resting on the brakes, not the transmission.

Just about every manual car I ever seen requires the clutch to be depressed.
This. I read the OP and went "isn't that normal?"
 
It's not normal for me. I've heard of it but this is the first time I drive a car that needs it's pedal pressed in order to start.
So, I dived down beneath the dash and found a switch going to the clutch pedal, disconnected, stuck a clip between the two terminals and tested. My car now starts without depressing the clutch! After I made sure it worked I did a decent job and soldered in proper wire BTW
 
I park in gear with the handbrake on, drop it into neutral before I start and depress the clutch when I start anyway even though I don't need to. It's not that difficult and if this is your only car you'll get used to it fast enough.
 
I always depress the clutch whenever I start the car, along with having my foot on the brakes, and the handbrake on. Plus I'll always check it is in neutral. I guess its how I've been told how to do it, and its just stuck instantly, but I see no problem in having to do this. You're going to have to depress the clutch when you want to move off anyway.
 
But not all the way to the floor, as the switch was setup. Anyhow, I guess it was some resistance to change since it was the first time I encountered a clutch switch.
 
You may want to wire in a toggle switch someplace, make it into a hidden anti-theft feature or even just make it so you can switch the clutch interlock off and on.
 
^Ideas like that sir are why you are most respected in this forum. It could be a sort of primitive inmobilizer! If I have the new switch in off, and I don't plug it back into the clutch switch they'll never be able to move it.
 
Yes, seriously. 6 years of not dealing with this and this comes and changes everything, I find nanny controls in cars annoying most of the time, this is by far the worst I've seen
 
You think that is annoying? Try an automatic trans that you have to step on the brake to start it. HOW STUPID DO THEY THINK PEOPLE ARE?????????


But those switches are easily disabled in a varity of ways.
 
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