Lanos 2 dr Sport 2001 won't start! Battery seems fine.

[cyborgguineapig]

For the last year or so my Lanos has been showing occasional sputtering at stop lights but aside that the car has ran strong for many years and I've grown quite attached too it. Recently got a new battery and oil change as well.

So two days ago I had been driving back and fourth across town, stopped at a friends for a few hours and upon returning to the car just like that, no engine response whatsoever when turning the key...Battery seems fine, all the interior/exterior lights/air/radio ect work fine. There is no turning over so to speek, just the dead empty sadness of silence as I pump the clutch and turn the key.

I attempted to jump the car and at first we had no luck.
Yesterday we go try again and after 4 key turns the car miraculously turned on and I was able to drive it around as usual. On the road there appeared to be NO problems I could tell. Getting ahead of myself and concluding the car just needed more juice I made the unwise decision of stopping at a nearby hardware store instead of taking it home. Upon returning to the car low and behold, the car was dead again...

So today I have some friends come and attempt to jump it for the third time and try after try there was simply failure. At one point we were able to get the car to turn over for what seemed like half a second but the lights were still strong and we concluded it wasn't the battery. We ended up moving the poor sob to a location where it won't likely get towed.

Any suggestions? P.S. my experience with auto mechanics is fairly simplistic.

[Fltofancy]

Sounds like a clutch switch. Try to push start (roll start) the car, as if the battery were weak. If you can push start the car then the problem is in the starter circuit. Probably a clutch switch or starter solenoid or starter itself.

Fltofancy

[cyborgguineapig]

Thanks Fltofancy, I'd love to give this a try however the current location of the car would make this a difficult task to achieve. I guess it won't hurt to try.

[mr_g]

Lanos doesn't have clutch switch...

wirings? As you turn the key, does ABS, MIL, OIL, BATTERY and other indicators light up?

I suspect wirings or key switch..

[cyborgguineapig]

Mr_g, yes, the indicators all light up. I tried to get a running start on it about an hour ago with two strangers. I think I may have forgotten to turn the key while simultaneously doing the clutch, gear, steering, gas combo though and therefore we only had a chance at one block before they gave up on me. Plus I gave up because I thought I was going to have a heart attack after I attempted to push the car on my own a block beforehand lol.. Daewoo's are light but I lacked the energy to do it myself.

There was a rushing water sound evertime I turned the key from fully off to engaged. Is that fuel?

My buddy and I checked the fuses under the hood the other day as well but is there something I should check in particular? I noticed there is a master fuse but we didn't bother looking at it.

I appreciate the help so far guys. Considering the car is NOT at my residence but on a public street I will likely have to tow to a garage eventually when I have the $. Ideally it's a simple matter to fix.

[bluesx]

My lanos is a 1999 1.6 with a 5 speed manual and it has a clutch switch.
It is a lockout switch to keep you from starting the car with the car in
gear and the clutch engaged. ( a safety switch ) I had to replace mine
about 2 years ago. It's cheap and needs no tools to install. It's required
in the U.S., but I'm not sure if it is in other countries. It's activated by
the clutch pedal , in an emergency you can jump the terminals with a
piece of wire. If this switch goes bad, you get the condition you just
described. I hope this can help you .

[chip18sw]

If you have a DVOM check the battery, you need at least 11.5 volts for the car to start. And you can bypass the safety switch, disconnect it at the clutch pedal (I'm guessing that's where it is? And put a paper clip in it to make jumper. Tape it up so it can't short out.

Oh yeah what he said!

[Puddle31]

sounds electrical to me too. I would also take your wires off the terminals and clean up the posts and the connections. mine has done that a few times, even with a new battery, if the connections are corroded.

[cyborgguineapig]

I really can't thank you guys enough over the web but it is in fact the clutch switch. Apparently the hammer is not making full contact to the switch. Like half a cm lol. I tend to drive with a lead clutch foot so I can see how somehow it got worn down over the years or something. So I can start the car by pressing in the switch with my hand. Kind of cool since I like the idea of a car which can not be driven if stolen hehe. to shift gears the clutch doesn't need to go nearly as "deep" so driving is fine but I guess something I should possibly be concerned about soon. Today I'll go looking for the switch, witch I imagine is pretty cheep. It looks like a cheep part.

Any who, bottom line is you guys rock! Thankyou. I did take a few pictures if you are curious to see some of the clutch switch mechanix.

-Art

[benzino]

the clutch switch is only for starting
it has no effect when the car has started...

the easy fix is to just remove the switch and join the wires that go to the switch
or if you want to be really fancy (and keep that function) you could join the wires to a dash mounted switch or hide it as a kill switch