starts in gear

So push the clutch in before cranking, then.

Boy, I wish I had that problem. I have thought about defeating that switch, though I have never got around to it.

I used to like the capability to crank a car in gear on the battery. Long ago with various unreliable cars I several times was able to move a stalled car out of an intersection merely by cranking it in gear. And I still had plenty of battery power to get it restarted once I had it out of traffic lanes. I feel this was a neat feature that the mfgs have crippled. My car always starts fine, doesn't stall, so I have not needed the capability, but it still bothers me knowing I can't do it.

I believe the implication is that he might not want to.

Hi I should have been more clear when I ask the question in the first place. I have been driving standards since the 50's and I know how, but our provincial government, in their infinite wisdom decided that if it does not function then the car can't pass it's safety test.

In our Jeeps we like that feature so we can use the starter to walk them out of water maybe if they get too wet or if they die or run out of gas on the street, to walk them over to the curb with it.

In the newer Jeeps, you add a fuse to the 'auto trans' fuse slot to bypass the clutch switch. Maybe yours has the same?

Mike

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote:

I used that "feature" in a manual transmission 1984 Volvo 240D to get it home when the clutch cable popped. Put it in first gear, hit the starter and sneak up on the next stop light.

Be careful. The starter is a "intermittent duty" device. The windings will burn out fairly quickly if over-used.

Okay, I guess the reason for my tirade was not obvious enough. I'd say, "dont fix it- it is a neat feature now" :-)

There may be a switch which indicates the car is in neutral. This may bypass the clutch switch since in many of my old cars you could start the engine without pressing the clutch as long as it was not in gear.

I have no idea about the sentra.