89' Escort GT 5speed, WTF I'm loosing it

:banghead:
I have a 89 ford escort GT 5speed
The problem i am having is find were the Neutral Safety Swirch is?

I have changed the fallowing parts to ALL New
Starter
Battery
Ignition Keyswtich
incline peddles
foot pads
5 pad limited slip clutch edition
MSD ignition coil 80,000
Platnum 4 point spark plugs and High desity wires
ground wire 2guage
starter reley switch
Power wire 2guage
all my fuses to correct specifications
and check all with a wire check for any faulty lines

My car use to start fine then one day i can out to start it and nothing but clicks, Mechanic said that is my Starter relay switch so i changed it (didn't work :banghead: ). Then he told me to hit the Starter silinode with a wrench, I did it started for 2 times then died. He said change the starter since my silinode is part of it so i did (didn't work :banghead: ). then he said it may be my battery so i changed that to a yellow top Optima (didn't work :banghead: ) as i changed the rest of what i wrote above, I check everything with the plug thingy i got from him and every bit of power was reading fine. IT STARTED, but after the next 5 starts on the 6th start the Starter would not turn itself off AUGH :banghead: :banghead: I'm pretty frustrated by now as you can tell.... so I called the mech back and he told me two last possible things it can be. Either the Neutral Safety Switch is Broken or the Release clutch Safety switch is burnt out. Well the clutch one is very expensive so i woukld like try the Neutral Safety Switch but i cannot find it :screwy: does someone have a detailed location of were this is or a PICTURE .... PLEASE :banghead: . I am going NUTS WTF am i loosing it , please someone tell me were this isor at least tell me if i am doing this right or give a bit of hrlp to fix this problem if chance :disappoin I would be really Greatfull

Ok, maybe i'm off base here, haven't worked on an escort since my 88 exp.

I don't think there's a "neutral safety switch" on your car, it's a 5 speed. I think what you're looking for is the "clutch safety switch" and it's tucked up under your dash and it's closed when you push in the clutch.

I had no end to wiring problems on my car, had more extension cords running throughout the car to bypass bad wiring. Have you checked the charging system at all? I had a wiring nightmare with the alternator harness (I think there were 2 leads from battery to alternator) being rusted to the point it broke. This caused all kinds of problems.

Have you checked all your fuses and breakers?

Check the battery ground (negative to body i think), make sure the battery terminals are good. The terminals may look good, but I had to change mine out. Check the lead from the battery to the starter to ensure it's good and you're getting proper connections.

Are you absolutely sure the starter is in tight and fully engaged? Have you tried push starting it to see if it will run? If you can repeatedly push start it (easier on a hill of course), then the clutch safety is probably not the issue.


As a side note:
My 88 EXP was my first 5-speed ever. I bought the car for $200, did alot of work to it like ball joints, tie rods, struts all round etc. Dropped in a new battery, went to start it and nothing, notta. Had my cousin over to help me get it started, changed the ignition coil, battery cables, had the starter out and checked it over, and a bunch of other stuff. Cost over $400 dollars in parts for troubleshooting. He finally got pissed off, looked at me over the hood and asked "Do you by chance have the fuckin clutch pushed in"???

I nearly died laughing... Didn't know at the time about safety switches. We had spent nearly 6 hours and a couple of trips to the parts store trying to get this thing going... :D

The clutch safety switch partially failed on my 93 1.9L. As rhynes points out, it closes when the pedal is depressed, completing the starting circuit. I was having to tweak the clutch position to find where it closed to get it to start. I pulled the switch and connected the 2 leads. Starts properly now. Look near the top of the clutch vertical arm.

Now, you do lose the "safety" feature of needing to be in neutral or clutch depressed when you start or the car will lunge. I think this switch is for drivers new to manual trannys.

You can bypass the safety switch on the starter solenoid. I do it all the time for remote starting, or compression testing. The top screw, small, sticking out, is what it is. Take the plug off (should only be one on that year), and put the positive of the battery to it. Your starter will have juice. Just make sure the car's outta gear first. I've forgotten once, and almost ran my car off some ramps, and onto me. Hope that helps.

Oki oki,

I checked the relay , replaced it, check the starter , replaced it, check the Clutch Starter silinode, replaced it, (replaced horn relay cause i thought it had something to deal with the ignition switch i was wrong but i still replaced it), Ignition and Ignition relay switch, Replaced them both, checked all wires everything seems fine now, Lights turn on, stereo and all electical systems work fine. I can even pop the clutch when i roll it and it starts and stays on but if i let it sit there nothing doing and i try to see if it cranks over, I press the clutch and turn the key ...... (watching tumblweeds roll by). Nothing happens, Now you said that I can bypass the whole thing by jus putting a switch and run the possitive strait to the starter (will this work? r can you give me a bit more detail on how i can do this, I would be very Greatfull) cause one person at the auto shop said it may be electrical but i don't know were to start at, if someone knows this info , could you give me a place were to look exactly or somewere to start by chance? :banghead:

Can you describe what your start relay looks like? There are two different models of them, one for the old style starter circuit, and another one for the new kind (mainly on '88 and later Tempos). If you didn't hook up your clutch interrupt switch to the relay then your car won't turn over. The way to check it is the take a wire, and run it from the positive of your batter to your relay, not the post that runs to the starter motor, though. Run it to the little post that sticks off the relay, it looks like a small screw (that's the clutch interrupt post). If you get power to that, and the relay is good, then you'll have power to your starter. If nothing happens, then tap your starter lightly with a screwdriver or tire iron. If the car then starts, then your starter is almost dead, and will need to be replaced.