Clicking sound when clutch released

demon · Postby **demon** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:58 am

Hi Guys,

Today, after driving for about 10 mins, I can hear a clicking sound coming from somewhere either behind the dash or in the footwell (can't really tell) when releasing the clutch pedal. I can almost "feel" the click through the pedal. I did a google search and I found some info on the miatia forums from the USA. They were saying that it is probably a clutch switch or cruise control switch. Apparantely some cars cannot be started unless the clutch is pressed and some cars with cruise control have a switch that disengages cruise control when the clutch pedal is pressed? My car is a 1990 Euno Roadster running an after market ECU, and without cruise control and I don't have to have the clutch pressed to be able to start the car?

Anyone out there experienced this issue or have any ideas as to what it may be?

Postby **Okibi** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:29 pm

Could be the clutch slave sticking a bit, put some grease on the slave and where it meets the pivot for the clutch.

Looks for leakage, MX-5 clutch slaves tend to die pretty often but they're simple and cheap to replace.

jerrah · Postby **jerrah** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:54 pm

My clutch switch clicks.

vrmmmpshhh · Postby **vrmmmpshhh** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 11:06 pm

mines doing the same. if you slightly tap the clutch and it disappears then its the clutch slave cylinder, well actually its the bracket that comes out of the gearbox and the slave cylinder usually takes up the slack on it. no amount of grease on the slave cylinder is fixing mine so i guess ill have look into it when i do my clutch.

demon · Postby **demon** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 9:02 am

I think I found the problem!!! As described on the miata forums, I found bits of blue rubber in the footwell. I had a look at the top of the clutch pedal and pressed it with my hand and found a little switch that gets pressed when the clutch is dis-engaged and then gets released when clutch is engaged. The blue rubber was the stopper that goes into a hole at the top of the clutch pedal to press the switch when the clutch is not engaged. Now, some guys on the Miatia forum were saying that the switch is the cruise control switch to de-activate cruise control when you press the clutch and others were saying that it is the kill switch, i.e. the one that does not allow the car to start unless the clutch is engaged. Well my car does not have cruise control but it may have had this "clutch-in to start engine" feature. Looks like the previous owner disabled it. All I should need to do is replace the blue rubber stopper with either a nut and bolt or a little piece of plastic interior trim clip and the clicking sound should disappear. I'll try this on the weekend and see how it goes.

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 3:19 pm

A good ,and some say essential, resource is a repair manual- not expensive.

Bauer · Postby **Bauer** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 6:51 pm

So can anyone confirm that this switch actually does anything on our aussie spec cars?

I depressed my clutch this morning to a clicking sound. Looked down to find blue bit of plastic on the floor. Drove to work and back fine except for the click.

Tonight I pulled out the switch. No click without a switch. Car starts with clutch depressed or not and I dont have cruise

Do I need the switch at all?

oh and cheers for the resource. I knew I would find a thread on this