Was having an issue starting the car...

Pushed the clutch in and turned the key to start and...

... nothing ...

Jiggled the key, genuflected, said a prayer, talked to my car nicely and...

... nothing ...

Long story short, started after a number of tries & I drove to the dealer.

Service advisor came out to the car, told me that if the ignition was going out a sure sign would be that the A/C would not function because it is ignition switch position critical... but, the A/C was working.

He asked me if I had done anything to the car recently and I could not think of anything that would affect ignition. Asked me if the starter had made any raspy cranking noises... and I responded - maybe a couple of times.

Then I related that I placed new coco mats over the factory carpet mats. The SA told me that this was not kosher since the level of the two mats together would not allow the clutch switch to engage properly telling the car it could start. Took out the factory mats and voila - starts every time.

Moral of the story...

A P-car problem is not always as bad as you think it is.

And... P-car owners are not always as smart as we think we are.

Humbled, but happy... priceless.

 

That's fantastic. Humbled and happy isn't a bad way to be sometimes. Glad all was healthy.

 

...after issues that one reads about on the forums its easy to think the worst.

Was relieved that the answer could be so simple and... "free of charge".

The dose of humility was tempered by the kindness of an honest & helpful service rep.

 

Bet it felt good knowing it wasn't anything major!

 

Haha, we all have our moments, mine was last night.

Leaving the liquer store last night the seat belt chime in my X6 wouldnt turn off, unbuckled my belt and buckeled it up again and still wouldnt stop, after a minuite this gets pretty annoying.

The dealer was five mins away so stoped in and told them the buckle sensor must be faulty.

The tech goes out to look at it and comes back a couple mins later and says "all fixed"

I replied, "that was quick" figuring they would need to pull it in and replace someting. Turns out it was the magnum of Goose on the passenger seat I just bought, car thought there was a passenger with it's belt not on. haha
That would be one skinny passenger! lol

 

happened to me, too. same diagnosis and treatment

jb

 

As Homer Simpson would say... "...yes, it most certainly did"...

That's funny... Apparently the sensors are extremely sensitive.

Happens in sister's car (per tech.) due to "tight sheepskin seat covers"...

Wriggle them around a bit and the indicator eventually turns off.

 

Yeah, you really have to push that clutch ALL the way in for it to start. Unlike a lot of other cars. I had an embarrassing moment when I first got the car showing it off to my friends!!

 

I ran into this problem on my 996 C4 a few times before I realized what it was. The stock floormats slip forward off their crappy grommets and get in the way of the switch.