Bought the truck 2 weeks ago. Had been hearing a clicking noise when engaging the clutch until 2 days ago when clutch went to the floor...the bolt holding the rod to the clutch pedal was missing & the 3" plastic "cover" that holds the sensor onto the rod popped off(that was the popping noise) & the truck wouldn't start until I figured out how to get it back on.

Today however, I got in the truck & got a click each time i tried the key(2 times) & then it was dead, nothing. The "cover" for the sensor was loose againsto I reattacedg it & still the truck was dead. No lights on the dash, no interior light, nothing. I checked the battery & voltage is good. I thought maybe I'd blown a fuse, but didn't check them all.

While I was registering for this forum I heard the ding ding ding again from the key being in & the door open so I tried starting it again. It clicked on the first try but then nothing the next time(nod ash lights or battery click).

Is there some sort of sensor that won't allow it to start right away if the clutch sensor has been messed with? Do I just have an electrical issue? Does the cluch sensor have to be at any certain angle? I have no idea & need some help trouble shooting! Thanks

 

Man do I hate it when there are two problems happening at one time. I had a loose battery cable!

 

Two things bad at the same time can be frustrating, that's for sure ! Glad you found it, and yes there is a safety switch on your Mazda truck (Ranger) clutch pedal to prevent starting circuit from "closing" unless the pedal is pushed down.

Yes, stuff can happen in bunches. On my '98 Frontier a bad alternator led me to discover that the water pump was leaking when the drive belt was off, and in R&R of that I found that its fan clutch was bad (source of undiagnosed noise though).

Once I even had bad fuel cap gasket on my 1971 VW Convertible and intermittent mechanical fuel pump leak on my Mazda B2200 truck, in the same garage. So I smelled gas and at first couldn't even pinpoint which vehicle had the issue, and of course it was both !

 

I will add that since that truck is so new to you, if you don't have - in writing - that stuff like coolant, manual transmission oil, rear differential oil, fuel filter, air filter, oil & filter has been done at schedule, might be a good time to do all those, that's what I would do.

Post a photo, and post a photo of your truck too !

 

I just wanted to give another update. I didn't have any other problems until about 3 weeks ago & started having the clicking problem again. Thought my battery cable had worked its way loose but it hadn't. The clicking / no start problem continued to get worse--bad starter.

I have replaced all the fluids. Thanks for the help!

 

Make sure your battery is bolted down, important. And a battery really can only be checked under load, like when trying to spin the engine with the starter.


And remember that your 1995 Mazda is actually a made-in-USA Ford Ranger, so don't overlook getting parts and help for it through that channel.Same here, but it can happen. One time I was getting ready to go out of town in my '98 Frontier, got it loaded up, went in to start it, the charging light was on. Checked it out, bad alternator, removed it, got cleaned up, went to store and got new one. When I returned, put on dirty clothes, found out water pump had leaked due to lack of tension from the belt, got cleaned up and got new water pump. Got home, dirty clothes back on to install the WP, found that the fan clutch was bad in process of removing it. Ditto, back to store a third time, counter guys were laughing. Anyway, never did get out of town that day, but the new fan clutch eliminated a noise at high rpm that I could not troubleshoot before.