Saturday, June 23, 2012

How to override the Miata's clutch switch (aka starter interlock switch)

What is a clutch switch aka starter interlock switch you ask?  It is the switch that is attached to the top of the clutch pedal that tells the ECU whether the clutch is depressed.  The stock setup requires that the driver hold the clutch down to start the car - probably for insurance liability reasons.  Don't really need this on a race car.

Why override this?  Sometimes, you want to start the car to check something and it gets annoying crawling in through the roll cage to do so.  For that reason, I had been meaning to override the clutch switch / starter interlock for a long time now.  It also gave me something to do as I had some time to kill. :-)  People smarter than me say that depressing the clutch pedal to start causes wear on the thrust bearings.  I personally don't know if that is true but there you go...  

How do you do this?  It takes about 10 minutes.  It took me about 30 minutes googling around trying to figure out how and 10 minutes to do it once I figured it out.  The easiest way to explain it is probably to post these two pics.  If you have any questions, get in touch.



and


Good luck.