I have a 2002 Honda CRV with 295000 miles. The car still runs great. However, when I go to start the car in the morning I often, not always, turn the key and nothing happens. I turn the key back, sometimes remove it and try again and the car starts. Sometimes I have to do this more than a few times. It is a moment of panic every morning. It does not happen again for the rest of the day. But will often happen the next morning. The car is a manual transmission. I have changed the starter and the ignition switch. And switched to my back up key. Of course, the dealer can never replicated the problem. Any ideas?
The problem might be with the clutch pedal inter-lock switch.
This switch prevents the starter from operating unless the clutch pedal is depressed.
Tester
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Thank you very much. I will check it out. This problem has been nagging me. I appreciate the help. Frederick S Moss
Another idea, might be a battery problem, or the battery posts and connectors need to be cleaned. Replacing the starter and ignition switch eliminates quite a few possibilities, but there’s still a few more to go. If you can get your battery’s condition tested, probably something worth trying.
Or the floor mats, and just not pushing the clutch pedal hard enough first thing in the morning.
On most cars the clutch safety interlock theory can be easily tested by just shorting it out and seeing if that fixes the problem. If so, replace the part and re-connect. I had to do that on my Corolla one time.
I replaced the clutch pedal interlock switch and the problem appears to be resolved. Thanks to everyone for their help.
And thank you for reporting back! I had the same failure on my 1984 Cavalier and just twisted the wires together - I was the only driver and knew the starter would then run even with no pressure on the clutch pedal.
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Good for you OP. Thanks for the great feedback.