GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I search the forum, but I didn't find any related post like the problem I have... I have a 5 speed manual vibe. Everybody knows that we have to push the cluth to start a manual car.. the problem is sometimes, even if the cluth is down my car won't start so I have to push is down again to make it start. It's dosent happen always.

quote:I search the forum, but I didn't find any related post like the problem I have... I have a 5 speed manual vibe. Everybody knows that we have to push the cluth to start a manual car.. the problem is sometimes, even if the cluth is down my car won't start so I have to push is down again to make it start. It's dosent happen always. I remember a post that talked about moving the floor mat so the pedal goes lower improving the situation. It may also be a switch out of adjustment, another post mentioned. Look above the clutch pedal while operating it with your hand and see if the switch is operating properly. These are the only suggestions I recall seeing posted, anything else anyone?

I do have to push my clutch in all the way to get it to start, but nothing unusual. I put some of those deep winter floor mats in last week and I am going to have to make a "cut out" for the pedals because the new mat doesn't like to bend around the "dead pedal" to the left of the clutch enough. It could be that the switch that lets the computer know you have the clutch in is out of adjustment.

Found using the search feature: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=1533 There is a easy temporary fix detailed here. The permanent fix of moving or adjusting the switch has not been chronicled.

I had this problem it was due to the winter mats I put in, they were cause why I had to really put my foot threw the floor on the clutch!

Thank you everyone for your answer ! I have a winter floor mat too so I think tahs it's because of this. I will try to cut it and see what happen. (Without my floor mat I didn't have any problem, so it's probably that !! )Thanks !

quote:I had this problem it was due to the winter mats I put in, they were cause why I had to really put my foot threw the floor on the clutch!You guys with winter floor mats... were they the ones that GM sells, or aftermarket ones that you bought someplace else?

My winter mats were after market and I needed to cut a slot for clutch pedal clearance. -ZXtra

quote:You guys with winter floor mats... were they the ones that GM sells, or aftermarket ones that you bought someplace else?I have the GM winter floor mats and it didn't make a difference in the amount of pressure I need to put on the clutch to start the car.

When I traded in my Mustang, I took out the WeatherTech winter rubber floormats that I had in it and put them right into my Vibe before leaving the showroom right on top of the carpeted Pontiac mats that came with the car. They were a custom fit for the Mustang, but fit pretty well in the Vibe. I didn't want to throw them away since they were still in pretty good shape, and I haven't yet had any trouble with pushing the clutch down to start the Vibe. When they begin to wear through, I'll probably order a new set from WeatherTech that are a custom fit for the Vibe.

I put standard winter floor mat in my Vibe. I had the clutch problem even I already shimmed the clutch. I just cut the floor mat around the dead pedal to make a "custom fit" and never had the trouble again after.