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bud_wi

Fixed my Scion by removing floor mats?

bud_wi
17 years ago

I just bought a 2005 Scion Xa. I've only had it a couple of weeks, and half the time it would not start. Dead. Just dead. Just a click. It doesn't sound like the engine is trying to turn over. Then sometimes it will start just normally with no problems at all.

I tossed around all the possibles in my head; electrial problem, weak battery, carburator, starter.......

Today it started right up and I ran an errand. When I came out ten min later it would not start. I was stranded again. I called a Scion dealership out of the Yellow Pages, (I bought it used at a GMC dealership,) and told them of my problem thinking that maybe there was something "new" in Scions, like a saftey feature of having to have your seatbelt on, or it won't start or something like that.

I had actually tried different things like that 'seatbelt on/off' and 'parking brake on/off'.

Well, here is what the guy told me.........He said "Do you have floor mats? Take out your floor mats." I thought he was just toying with me. I did it and the car started perfectly.

He told me that there is a sensor on the floor and if the clutch pedal does not make direct contact with it the car won't start. The floor mats I had were not thick, just the free ones the dealership had tossed in. They are just some sort of cardboard with fuzz sprayed on them.

I've driven manual transmission since 1972 and never heard of this or had a problem like this.

I researched cars before my purchase and I now just got done searching the internet for info on this weird floor mat voodoo. There is nothing.

Is this just a coincidence that my car started right after I removed the floor mats? I mean this car starts sporadically and maybe it would have started an hour later anyway whether the floor mats where there or not.

Anyone know about this "clutch pedal sensor thingy" the guy told me about?

I have an appointment to take the car back to the dealership where I bought it and they are going to take a look at the car. The salesman who sold it to me told me he drove it for a week and had no problems with it. (Of course!) I haven't told them about the floor mat voodoo that the Scion place told me about.

Is my Scion going to be OK now or, should I start hassleing the place that 'sold me a lemon' with an electrical problem?

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