How to: change a 987 clutch pedal switch

[Menoporsche]

Problem: you put the clutch down to start the car and the dash lights up but no starter motor fires. Wait a couple of seconds and you get “Depress clutch pedal”, even though your left foot’s on the floor. 

What’s wrong: clutch pedal switch has gone.  Quite common apparently. Mine went after 40k. Part number of the one I took off ended in 00, the one I put on ended in 50, so they’ve had several revisions. Get your head in the footwell, look up at the top of the clutch pedal, you’ll see a small white block (2cmx1cmx0.5cm) with two thin wire spade connections - it’s that.

Solution 1: keep your foot down and the key turned. There seems to be an override after 10-15 seconds so the car will start.
Solution 2: cut a two-inch strip of wire and fit it with male:male spade crimp terminals. Pull the female ends off the switch and join them together with your two-inch wire to bypass the switch.
Solution 3: go buy a new one and fit it. Cost me €35 from OPC.  Tips on fitting (NB my car is a MY08 987.1):

I have an old hardboard door in the garage. I put four columns of bricks to raise it as a platform outside the car at sill level then managed to lie on my back, wiggle head twixt wheel and seat (seat as low as possible), and get comfy. Don’t try it just after a large meal or on a hot day.  Once you’ve got on your back with your head in the footwell, you won’t get up for a while. I was fighting off forty winks. 

Read round the web for other solutions. I did but they didn’t seem to help. You can't see the head of the tiny bolt holding the switch to the bracket, but it was unanimous that I would need a T10 torx to remove it. After fussing upside down for 15 minutes, wiggling in then out again to find another tool / torx head, I got a make up mirror from the wife’s drawer and found that the bolt head was a P1 Pozidrive FFS.  Removing the visible nut on the other side of the bracket before getting the mirror out was also a failed attempt, as I couldn’t work out its size AF, smaller than 8mm, tiny spanner access - and then I found it was a captive nut ie welded to the bracket . Working in there is really tight, I managed to get a pozi in because I have a minuscule ratchet driver but there is maybe 3cm between the bolt head and an obstruction. The web said to remove a duct but I couldn't see anything easy to remove. It also said I'd need hands of a 10 year old, I'm not Donald Trump but I seemed to manage fine. I guess it's been changed around there since the 986. If this is the improvement, it must have been hell before.

Make a note of which wire goes on which terminal. I didn’t, but assuming it’s a simple switch I don’t think it would make a difference if they were the wrong way round. Consider a foolproof way of labelling the terminals, as they look different when you’re upside down.

The white block has a big bent arm on it, which actuates the switch. That’s not supposed to touch anything in normal use, it only contacts the top arm of the pedal when pedal is pushed nearly to the floor. The one I took off had a big blob of grease on it where it touches the pedal, I transferred it to the new one.

Car starts on the button now  

[richardjjs]

He great Post
You forget no 4 - Change the Car!!
Pretty certain there is a similar switch on the Brake for an Auto DO NOT short this out as starting in gear could be fatal