Clutch safety cut off mystery

[zanman]

Hi All - I did my first start couple weeks back and several of you have worked me through the main issues I logged after that successful start. With everything fixed I fired her back up today and took it for a ride. It was freakin awesome. The power is insane - my first shift into second kicked the back end out a bit which humbled me quickly haha.

Anyway one issue I also encountered on my first start was my clutch cut off switch was not working. Well it persists. If I push clutch down car won’t start. With clutch not pushed down car starts right up. Seems so simple but I just can’t figure it out! Gotta be a simple wiring issue but I have racked my head looking at it all. Any thoughts???

Thanks again

Mike

[runamuk]

Switch the two wires on the clutch switch to the other terminals. This is a mistake in the manual that needs to be corrected. The wires on the brake and clutch switch should be connected to the same side (normally open) on both switches, so that when the pedal is pressed the switch makes.

[Ted G]

Runamuk is likely correct. For what it is worth, I eliminated the clutch safety switch and chose to do a neutral safety switch. I really like the fact that I don't need to get into the seat to start the car. I just have to make sure it is in neutral. This is nice when you are working on the car, need to do multiple starts, and maybe make some adjustments without getting in and out of the car. I think it'll also save on seat wear, my back, and reduce the chances of getting the infamous "snake bite".

Ted

[OB6]

Runamuk is likely correct. For what it is worth, I eliminated the clutch safety switch and chose to do a neutral safety switch. I really like the fact that I don't need to get into the seat to start the car. I just have to make sure it is in neutral. This is nice when you are working on the car, need to do multiple starts, and maybe make some adjustments without getting in and out of the car. I think it'll also save on seat wear, my back, and reduce the chances of getting the infamous "snake bite".

Ted

Agree, clutch switches definitely serve a purpose but can be a PIA. I bypassed it on my last car since I was the only person who drove it, and plan to go with a NSS only on this one.

[MPTech]

I wired mine to a toggle-switch and mounted it under the dash (to the left of the steering column). I can switch it Off when parked as a theft-deterrent, or switch it On to start normally and be able to start the car standing outside (testing and/or tuning).

[CraigS]

I had a neutral switch on my MkII because I didn't have a clutch switch and it was so easy to wire into the existing neutral switch on the trans. 90% of the time it was fine. But every once in a while, usually in a parking lot, I'd manage to stall the engine. Well, every other manual trans car I have ever driven, I pushed the clutch to start it. Pushing the clutch in the FFR did nothing. Oh yeah, right I need to be in neutral. It was never enough of a bother to go to the trouble of a clutch switch where there was none, but I didn't like it.

[F500guy]

I just finished the overly complicated wiring job on mine this last week, I installed a relay that has clutch, NSS or a toggle bypass to allow the starter to engage. First response is likely the problem, check resistance across the terminals of the switch, should be no resistance when the clutch is pushed and I found the clutch and brake switch to be very small pedal movement to activate.

[zanman]

Yup Runamuk was right on. I put the clutch cutoff wires on other terminals and problem solved. UGGHH it’s the easy stuff that gets ya right???? Thanks again!!

I do have one other question though. And I doubt there is an answer easily concluded but something very strange is happening when test driving the car. Car running great. I have been driving it back and forth in my long driveway. But…..When I get to the exact same location in the driveway each time the car stalls. The engine just dies. It’s fascinating. It doesn’t happen anywhere else I drive the car. It starts right back up and I’ve been able to avoid the stall knowing where it occurs by engaging clutch and giving little extra fuel right as it’s happening and the car then almost stalls and bucks to life with a burst of fuel and then fine once again when past that spot. I do hear a strange sucking noise from behind dash which I think is just the sniper pulling fuel in. I’m thinking this has to be something electromagnetic. The spot on my drive is near where my underground electric service is coming into my house and my home standby generator is located there too. I heard the sniper EFIs can be fussy with electromagnetic interference but never experienced that before myself. Anyone ever have something like this happen?? It’s really crazy and hard to diagnose.

Thanks,

Mike

[Papa]

You'll be able to quickly rule out EMI by enabling data logging on the Sniper. If you don't know how to do that, it's described in the manual. It's easy to do and you'll appreciate having data when diagnosing EFI issues. Do you have the Holley Sniper computer software installed on a laptop? If so, you can watch the data in real-time while in the car. You'll need the software to look at the log data regardless.

You might find this thread helpful:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?35914-Learning-to-Tune-the-Holley-Sniper

[zanman]

Thanks I haven’t done that. I’m gonna set that up to see if it gives me anything.