I had a serious leak in the heater core and it had to be replaced. I went through all the trouble of removing the entire dash and whatnot. What was Ford thinking?

Anyway, got it all back together, hooked up the battery, turned the key and nothing. All the electrical such as the stereo, heater fan, dash lights, etc. work fine. But no ignition. It's almost like it thinks the clutch isn't pushed in. I checked and made sure the sensor was connected. And I know I had the clutch pushed in.

The truck is a 98 6cyl 5 speed. If anyone has ideas on trouble shooting this, or has had this happen and knows what it is, I'm all ears!!

Thanks in advance!
Dave

 

I took this pic of the Clutch Pedal Position switch. For some reason it just doesn't look right to me. Maybe someone can verify it. It just appears to not be on the release arm properly. And it slides on the arm freely. Could this be the problem?

oops! forgot link to pic

http://i43.tinypic.com/24q1dkz.jpg

 

The CPP is in the starter circuit. If it isn't "made", the engine cannot crank.

 

I appreciate your reply. But what I'm asking is does it look damaged or not properly mounted in that image I have linked above. I guess maybe I wasn't too clear on that. Sorry. I can't find much info on the little bugger such as a clear picture etc. Is it supposed to slide freely on the release arm? Does the release arm run through the center of it? Or is it slightly offset as it appears in the image?

Just thinking that the harness going to it may have been the one I missed. When we went to lift out the dash, one harness was still connected and it took a pretty good tug. I wasn't on that side at the time and my buddy can't remember what harness it was to confirm my suspicion.

Thanks

 

If you turn the key with the clutch pushed, do all the dash lights go out? If so I really think it might be the CPP.

 

No. Everything stays lit up. Including the check engine light.

 

Can't you disconnect the switch and jumper it to test it?

 

It might not be the CPP. If you don't press in the clutch (on mine) and turn the key, the gauges die out until you release it from the start position.

 

I will go hook the battery back up and have another look. Just to be safe

 

OK, just had another look. With ignition in the run position: Oil light on, Battery light on, Door open light on, Seat belt light on, Check Engine light on.

In the start position: All above stay on, airbag light comes on, brake light comes on. No dimming of dash lights whatsoever.

I really do appreciate all you folks trying to help. I opted to do the original job myself to save some money. With your help, I hope to avoid a tow bill and possibly a higher bill than it would have been had I had the dealer fix it in the first place. Maybe a lesson to be learned in here.

Dave

 

Well, I jumped across the solenoid and the truck starts and runs just fine. No check engine light or anything. So, maybe it is in the CPP switch. I will have to get an ohmmeter and crawl under there and check it out.

Anyone know of any anti-theft system or anything else that might be an issue?

OH! And I noticed a high pitch whine coming from the stereo.

 

98 doesnt have anti-theft. did you disconnect anything when you did the heater core swap?

the whine from the stereo is usually alternator backfeed. try revving it up and see if the sound increases/decreases. you could have a ground problem.

 

Did I ever. Pretty certain I got all of them plugged back in. Was one I spent hours searching for the other half of only to find out it's for a brake controller (gray one over the brake pedal with 2 Lt green/black and 2 red wires). But, as sure as I am, there is always the possibility that I missed one. If I don't run into the solution to the problem before then, I'll take the dash back out next weekend and make sure.