Clutch safety switch
 

My clutch switch is giving me problems starting my truck. I have to smash the clutch pedal to the floor in order to get the engine to crank.
Where is this switch, what does it look like, is it easy to bypass???
I am not an idiot and don't start my vehicles w/o the clutch pressed or the trans in "N". I'm sure some dolt started his vehicle in gear and ran over somebody.:-arrgh The lawyers got involved and said it was the manufactures fault (they have deeper pockets) and sued the manufacture. As a result we now have yet another unwanted "feature" on our trucks that can only cause problems.:-blah
Now that I have gotten off of my soapbox, can somebody tell me how to bypass this thing!!:-banghead

Above the gas pedal the switch attaches to the master cyl. Red wires with blue stripe are the 2 you need to jump. Check to be sure your firewall isnt cracked around the MC and that your linkage isnt worn. The bushings on the clutch/ brake pedal pivot wear out as does the plastic bushing where the master cyl pushrod hooks to the pedal assy.

X2 on bashby's comments. If the pedal doesn't return fully it could indicate a bushing problem.
BTW my pedal to MC bushing broke and I used my jumper cables to activate the starter from inside the cab so I could start in gear and get the truck home. Fortunately I got lucky and only had to start in gear about 4 times before I hit the highway. Many like to bash the Mazda but it speed shifted very well.
The rod is not available as a seperate part, it comes with the MC, but I was able to get one from my local junkyard. That was about 40k miles ago.

I had to replace the lever and the plastic bushing where the pedal meets the rod through the firewall and fixed my issue on my old 92

Thanx for the pointers. Now that you mention it, coming out of 3rd gear is kinda sticky, which reminds me to float 4th to 5th. I'll have to check all the linkage and firewall. I'm betting something is amiss. I'll get the swich bypassed today. I take it to work (80 miles) tomorow, but then get in a big truck until Sunday, which will require a 80 mile return trip. I have to rev the engine higher than I normally do, but I should be able to float all the shifts to and from work. I'll be able to pull it apart next week and maybe steal some parts from my parts truck.

Thinking about it more: In this truck (my '88), the clutch always seemed to start engaging right off the floor. When I would use the low range I would have to remind myself to push the clutch pedal to the floor in order to stop. Otherwise I would fight with the brake pedal and the truck would lunge when I was trying to stop.
Is this a symptom of worn linkage??

Having that plastic bushing or the pin it pivots on worn will do that as it doesn't allow you to push the clutch in as far as it should. That might also fix your shifting issues too

Yes, play in the linkage will cause your pedal to engage closer to the floor.

I have always just bypass the switch with a push button starter switch wired straight to the starter solenoid !

I would go to the wrecking yard and look for a truck like yours with auto trans. The clutch switch wiring is still there and it has a jumper plugged into it from the factory. Grab the jumper and use it on your truck.

Bypassing the switch would make it start easier but if it's worn out enough he's having a hard time to Get it in and out of gear because it's not fully releasing the clutch then just fix the linkage and kill 2 birds with one stone

I bypass the stupid switch on all my trucks. I don't like having to push the clutch every single time I want to start the truck. Maybe I'm lazy or something, but I enjoy not having the switch hooked up.

The stupid switch is there as a safety factor for stupid drivers.

In the case of a broken or inoperative clutch linkage, or release mechanism, or transmission "stuck" in gear (all this for manual trans only), the stupid switch prevents "power rolling" the vehicle using the battery and starter to do so. Also prevents "power roll-starting" the vehicle.

That's why my stupid switch is out of the "loop"! impish

If you are going to bypass it, I would get the factory jumper from an automatic as mentioned.

I recently had a heck of a time tracing down a problem in my truck, it would rev to 2300 or 2400 nearly every time it started, hot or cold.
The previous owner had bypassed the igniton and the starter switch which covered up the cause of the problem. It was because the signal return part of the clutch switch had quit making contact.

It fooled me because I had the firewall flex issue (has since been full plated) and the cruise control cut out still worked on the clutch. The igniton actuator was broken in the column so I couldn't use a key, but if I held the clutch switch back and used a screwdriver in the igniton slide it would start however. So I figured since the start circuit and cruise circuit were working the switch was good.

After checking lots and lots of other things and rebuilding the column, putting the wiring back as it should be and plating the firewall. I eventually jumped the signal return circuit and the problem went away.

I went to the local upullit and got the jumper for free, plugged it in and the truck has started correctly since.

I suppose I could go buy a new switch, but I'm not a big fan of pita safety gizmos either. I removed the need to press the button to pull my key and the column lock when I rebuilt the column as well.