Clutch Safety Switch 1999 Ranger. Is it supposed to ride up and down?

[Mark_88]

To bypass switch splice together the White/pink stripe wire with Pink wire

This is the correct wires...they should be the lower two wires on the connector...and there should be six wires on the CSS.

There is also a pin or nub that fits into the end of the longer part that is attached to the fixed part on the shaft...that nub fits into the hole and holds the part with the wires in place...from the pictures you showed in your first post, it looks like you are missing the shaft with the nub on the end...that is why it keeps sliding.

I would just bypass the two wires for now to test the starting circuit....you can tape it into place sort of permanently if you can't find the nub to hold it in place (junkyard item)...

I drove my first Ranger like that for almost 15 years...never had an issue with anything in all that time...except for when the U shaped wire fell out once due to a poor taping job.

As for why we even have a CSS...if you've driven a manual transmission for even a month or so you will never forget to either put the truck in neutral when starting or depress the clutch...I never used neutral unless I was doing work on the motor and had to go back and forth to start or turn the key and didn't want to climb in each time...

 

[Andy D]

Yah , IIRC, there was a tangle of wires hanging just above the clutch pedal sprouting from under the dash. I destroyed the MC getting it loose from the firewall.and the CSS was a casualty. What I did was to jam something brass between the contacts because it was broken. As a side note, I have never had vehicle that was so difficult to take apart as the Rat. The guy who changed the transmission. must have laughed about the fasteners holding the 1354 to the M5OD. I used a piece of threaded rod. and a couple BMW axle bolts that have an 8mm Allen head. I broke stuff all the way through the take out stage. So I did all the drilling, chiseling and grinding already

 

[enjr44]

Well, I have no specific knowledge to help. However, at this point, I would be at the local junk yard looking at how it is put together!!! A person put it together to work at some point so you can put it together again. Just need a working example to see what you are missing.

 

[rlmc60]

Still trying to figure it out at this point. I took the switch off and put in a screw holding it in depressed position,
i hope bypassing it. Still nothing. It doesn't have to be on the clutch push rod, does it. Down to pulling every fuse and cleaning the contacts, as the ones I checked were corroded some. Maybe a trip to the junk yard IS in order.

 

[rlmc60]

Still trying to figure it out at this point. I took the switch off and put in a screw holding it in depressed position,
I hope bypassing it. Still nothing. It doesn't have to be on the clutch push rod, does it? Down to pulling every fuse and cleaning the contacts, as the ones I checked were corroded some. Maybe a trip to the junk yard IS in order.

 

[RonD]

Does read like the problem is the clutch switch, no it doesn't have to be on the push rod.

If you manually close it then it will pass power, IF there is power to pass

 

[Mark_88]

To bypass the switch, remove it, and jam a bent piece of 14 or even 12 gauge wire into the two end slots to jump the circuit.

Not sure what you are putting a screw into or why but it won't do anything unless you jump the last two wires on the clip...and I believe they have been identified above.

If that gets the starter circuit going then you can just leave the jumper in place (tape it in is better) or replace whatever needs to be replaced at that point.

I did my 96 just recently and it worked fine (considering I had no idea how it actually worked...)

EDIT: and if you are having trouble seeing up in there you can actually remove the trim piece by the steering wheel on the bottom, and then remove the metal plate behind that...it will give you much better view of the problem...especially if you are over 5' tall...it is a very tight space to work in otherwise and certainly worth a few extra minutes to give you a better view...

Taking pictures of the screw locations helps immensely in putting things back properly...especially if there is any lag in the time before putting it back together.