Bizarre starting problem with my 2019 Navara D231 Tekna.

Scooby=1234 · Nov 14, 2024

My pickup passed it's MOT recently but when I went to start it at the garage to come home it wouldn't turn over. Everything worked insofar as I could unlock it, the screen showed the usual messages & lights but when I pressed the clutch and pressed the button it wouldn't turn over. The key fob was in my pocket as it was when I unlocked it and so I took it out and laid it on the dashboard (I had put a new battery in it
about 6 months ago). I checked everything, all doors were closed. no lights were on that shouldn't have been on, etc.

So I called the mechanic and he came out, put his foot on the clutch, pressed he button and she fired up. And it's been O.K. for a week but today I had the same problem. Now- long story short - if I press the
brake pedal instead of/as well as the clutch pedal she turns over fine. Can anyone tell me what on Earth has gone wrong here please ?

Any help and/or advice great appreciated.

Old.Tony · Nov 14, 2024

It could just be a dodgy clutch switch. I had a brake switch with some soot inside it causing my tail lights to not operate, but cleaning the switch out fixed that.

I have no idea if they used the same sort of switches in yours, but mine were really easy to remove and open, clean and replace.

Scooby=1234 · Nov 14, 2024

Old.Tony said:
It could just be a dodgy clutch switch. I had a brake switch with some soot inside it causing my tail lights to not operate, but cleaning the switch out fixed that.

I have no idea if they used the same sort of switches in yours, but mine were really easy to remove and open, clean and replace.

Thank you for your help. What I don't understand is why, if putting my foot on the clutch doesn't allow the starting procedure, if I then put my foot on the brake pedal in just the same way as I have always put my foot on the clutch, it turns over as per normal.

Old.Tony · Nov 15, 2024

I have an automatic and can't compare with mine. On mine - because I don't have a clutch - it's the brake that needs to be pressed.

It's just a guess, on my part - because of my experience with the switches under there.

Scooby=1234 · Nov 15, 2024

Old.Tony said:
I have an automatic and can't compare with mine. On mine - because I don't have a clutch - it's the brake that needs to be pressed.

It's just a guess, on my part - because of my experience with the switches under there.

Thank you for that. It just seems odd to me that everything was fine until after it had been through the MOT (Ministry Of Transport annual roadworthyness test) and the problem is so intermittent. I don't have a wiring diagram for this pickup. I assume that there is a switch somewhere connected to the clutch somehow that alllows the starter button to work ?

Old.Tony · Nov 16, 2024

Scooby=1234 said:
Thank you for that. It just seems odd to me that everything was fine until after it had been through the MOT (Ministry Of Transport annual roadworthyness test) and the problem is so intermittent. I don't have a wiring diagram for this pickup. I assume that there is a switch somewhere connected to the clutch somehow that alllows the starter button to work ?

It will usually be a switch on the clutch lever (above the pedal) but the "lockout" will be in the ECU. The switch is usually well up the arm away from where your feet could get to.

Scooby=1234 · Nov 16, 2024

Old.Tony said:
It will usually be a switch on the clutch lever (above the pedal) but the "lockout" will be in the ECU. The switch is usually well up the arm away from where your feet could get to.

Thank you once agan for your help and advice. As an example of how strange it all is, today I started it 4 times this morning on a journey out and each time depressing the clutch pedal worked but I went out this evening and the three times that I had to start the pickup I had to depress the brake pedal, because depressing the clutch wouldn't work !

Old.Tony · Nov 16, 2024

Scooby=1234 said:
Thank you once agan for your help and advice. As an example of how strange it all is, today I started it 4 times this morning on a journey out and each time depressing the clutch pedal worked but I went out this evening and the three times that I had to start the pickup I had to depress the brake pedal, because depressing the clutch wouldn't work !

That's very, very odd ...

Ok, "left field" time - I wonder if the clutch and brake switches are negative (earth) switches, and if they share a connection to the same earth point, AND that earth point isn't very good (erratic)?

Ok, here's my thinking: in the older Navaras (pre-2015), Nissan earthed the instrument cluster with the stereo and there have been several situations where the instrument cluster was randomly providing an earth for the stereo through one of its gauges - yes, doing the strangest things! Adding a separate earth from the stereo case to the vehicle body (any decent-sized bolt under the dash) fixed the problem.

So what if the brake & clutch on yours have a similar situation? The first thing to check is continuity between all of the pins on the clutch pedal and the vehicle body. If it's an earth-based switch, one of them will show resistance of nearly zero. If you then connect THAT pin to one of the dash mounting bolts, it should avoid any erratic earthing that might be happening.

If you're not confident with a multimeter, it's probably best to get an auto electrician to do it.

Scooby=1234 · Nov 16, 2024

Old.Tony said:
That's very, very odd ...

Ok, "left field" time - I wonder if the clutch and brake switches are negative (earth) switches, and if they share a connection to the same earth point, AND that earth point isn't very good (erratic)?

Ok, here's my thinking: in the older Navaras (pre-2015), Nissan earthed the instrument cluster with the stereo and there have been several situations where the instrument cluster was randomly providing an earth for the stereo through one of its gauges - yes, doing the strangest things! Adding a separate earth from the stereo case to the vehicle body (any decent-sized bolt under the dash) fixed the problem.

So what if the brake & clutch on yours have a similar situation? The first thing to check is continuity between all of the pins on the clutch pedal and the vehicle body. If it's an earth-based switch, one of them will show resistance of nearly zero. If you then connect THAT pin to one of the dash mounting bolts, it should avoid any erratic earthing that might be happening.

If you're not confident with a multimeter, it's probably best to get an auto electrician to do it.

Thank you again. Been out on a journey this morning and had to use the brake pedal every time. I suppose my biggest concern is that I might get away from home and not be able to start it at all. I've got another problem on the go at the moment - an electro-magnetic clutch blew up on a machine and I am trying to fix that without breaking the Bank of England !!

Old.Tony · Nov 16, 2024

It might pay - as in be fruitful, rather than expensive - to just pull ALL of the clutch and brake switches off, clean and reinstall (one at a time, of course). Cleaning is best done with compressed air (after you remove any loose bits like the switch levers and springs) and electrical contact cleaner (which is the same thing as MAFS cleaner).

It certainly seems to be somewhere in the switch/connectivity area. Erratic is annoying, if it was something constant like "number 2 piston is hanging outside the block" we'd have a better chance of pinpointing the problem.

Scooby=1234 · Nov 16, 2024

Old.Tony said:
It might pay - as in be fruitful, rather than expensive - to just pull ALL of the clutch and brake switches off, clean and reinstall (one at a time, of course). Cleaning is best done with compressed air (after you remove any loose bits like the switch levers and springs) and electrical contact cleaner (which is the same thing as MAFS cleaner).

It certainly seems to be somewhere in the switch/connectivity area. Erratic is annoying, if it was something constant like "number 2 piston is hanging outside the block" we'd have a better chance of pinpointing the problem.

Thank you again. You are being very helpful and I appreciate it very much. Me, being the suspicious person that I am ! thinks that it must have been something to do with the MOT test. Everything was perfectly alright before that. It would have up on a ramp and he would have been poking about underneath and I think something has been moved.

Bizarre starting problem with my 2019 Navara D231 Tekna.

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