I have been told there is a switch wired to the clutch of my 94 2500 two wheel diesel. When it malfuntions it mimics a bad starter. Where is this switch?

Mitsubishi Grandis , year not old, no engine size told or VIN.
2003 to 2011 made, sure.
starter failing for any reasons is a simple thing, (unlike bad engines 50 ways to fail)
Battery must be good, load tested, did you know batteries can even be intermittent a hard fact of life, good ,back,weak or intermittent or simple not charged up.
or 10x more often battery lugs loose ,or rusty or BOTH>?>???>
jumper cables ,jump start any dead starter car>?????????
ok Jumps fail so we do what? now.
Your car has an automatic transmission. but some are 5speed manual transmission,s for sure. so I answer 2 times blind, sure
A/Tbox
the PRNDL switch bad for PARK cranking, we shift them all to N
to neutral and crank if this works PRNDL ,P switch is bad
car #2
if M/T tranny, the clutch switch bad kills the starter dead.
no sound means starter motor is dead , the tests are simple
one can have a car battery load tested for free in most shops and vast stores here in USA,did I say FREE, I did.
learn to use jumper cable
learn to start in N
if clutch pedal car, learn to short the 2 clutch pedal top switch wires and the starter motor goes BACK to working again or

if all tests fail we hot wire a starter motor, ask
and if that fails a new starter is replaced. (battery NEG lug pulled first)

all you said was truck D21 or the one called pickup USA spec>?
2,4K or 3.0L engine???????
no problem told at all,
no engine told or what is bad, the starter ring gear bad.
or manual clutch bad and chatters. and needs milling flat../
no truck told
is it 4wd 4 wheel drive.
is this a manual transmission or auto trans, no told at all.

generic answer now.

1. pull all prop shafts
2. 4wd transfer case and wires and shift links off .
3. remove any exh pipes in the way. 33 of changes , possible here.
4. pull all wires and shift linkages from main box. and clutch slave off bell.
5. set tranny floor jack to tranny bottom
6. unbolt tranny cross member
7. pull all bell bolts ,buttom up leave to 2 for last and to them. using jack balancing them.
8. if A.T box unbolt flex plate to TC to fly.
9. slide trann back and out.
10. of M?T unbolt PP, pressure plate.
11. unbolt fly. and it falls off end of crank.
12. done

or buy the service manual and read, it.

no engine told ,Diesel? and size?
manual or auto trans? if manual clutch switch bad.
the service manual covers that.
most cars made the battery FUSE box has that and the lid on the box names it,, did you under hood look firsta
try cranking in Neutral firsts (oops?)
Jump starts work (jumper cabled)
all fuses good.
some of these trucks have no such relay at all.
just key and PRNDL switch and to starter solenoid..
or if manual clutch switch used not PRNDL.
I looked at 88-98 ,all engines and most have no such thing at all
but 1994 is 500 page manual ,in paper, not digital ever. so no PDF of 500 pages, (buy one used on ebay is best) paper



some had this.
under hood box.

all fuse good????
is the starter relay bad (oops none there)
does CEL lamp glow key on then goes out ?
it must or PCM is dead or fuse to it dead.
the car may have TCM (trannybrain) and it too must scan good.


OK , the key line wire is dead. (sure NO CRANKS)
is the battery good and lugs clean?
do the head lamps work key off and bright.??????
is rested battery at 12.6vdc? not 10. (called SOC)
does jumper cable jump starts work.? hummmmm?

the transmission if AUTOMATIC<must be in PARK or neutral. to crank. , must, if park fails we always try Neutral next (TRS/PRNDL)
scan the PCM yet?, see if there are transmission errors>?
the schematic is here.

https://eautorepair.net/Marketing/Default.asp

the below is off the Diesel page for this truck.
wow DOUBLE BATTERY F250 !!!!!!
if one fails the bad battery can wreck the good one.
manual trans is clutch switch (no trans told)
auto (A/T) is TRS. (trans, range switch )
central JB fuse pins 4/19 fuse 20 , 15amps NOT BLOWN
hint the fuse is only hot cranked !!!!!!!
there is no relay on the diesel
key on cranked 12vdc feeds the fuse (11vdc low if cranking happens)
and the fuse feeds, below left
if TRS not bad, crank juice goes directly to the solenoid seen here.
middle wire is clutch sw.


cropped to make it more clear.
manual trans only has a clutch pedal switch no TRS there.

Clutch switch keeps it from cranking.
You can bypass the cluctch switch. Make double sure transmission is in neutral. On many jeeps, under the hood is fuse/relay box. One of the relays is the starter motor. Pull the relay. With a pair of pliers, take a paper clip and short the pins that go to starter. They wire can get hot. If the starter cranks, you might be right (see ignition switch and any interlocks - like clutch switch), if the starter doesn't crank, get a new starter.

It sounds like current is feeding into the start wire off the switch. Trace the wire from the clutch switch to the ignition switch connector. Does the wire look good? Examine closely the connector and see if you see a burnt terminal, or some broken plastic in the connector, some way for the start wire to pick up current. If you see nothing wrong, IDK, probably will need a shop to chase the wiring down and find it. I don't know if a bad starter relay (stuck on) could do that, likely not if it only happens when you depress clutch and have clutch switch on.
Good luck.

I'm not a VW diesel expert, but you should have a switch on the clutch to prevent you from cranking the engine in gear. I would look for that switch and check for voltage on both sides with the pedal engaged.
There should be a small wire on the starter solenoid that goes to the clutch switch and then to the key.

no engine told 2.3,3.0,4.0 , gas or diesel not told
seems diesel is 1995 and in South america's only.
no vin told.
if it has one, (the speed control version yes, and no speed control NO relay.
bench test the horn yet
or hot wire it in place , actual horn
or ground to the horn is bad as all are that old
dead horn
fuse 8 is first. if blown horn will be dead.
I guess speed controls means CRUISE.?
the steering wheel has cruise there is a relay
if not , such relay is there. proof below. (solid proof)

left side is cruise
right is non cruise opted car. Service manual drawing.

no engine told and matters.
wiring always does on different opted engines.

here is speed control words.? service manual SM.
Modern name is ISC
"On vehicles equipped, the DC motor/idle speed control actuator is mounted to the fuel charging assembly. This component controls the idle speed, including such functions as high cam rpm, anti-diesel shut off, dashpot and pre-positioning the engine fuel charging assembly for restart. This control actuator is driven by the EEC-IV system, which includes an integral idle tracking switch".

bad fuse F8 OR WRONG SIZE USED, AMPS WRONG.,MISSING
HORN FUSE IS 20AMPS IIRC.
bad slip rings
bad horn switch.
bad relay if fitted
both horns bad.
both horns 1 ground are rusty , horns work benched tested

GOOD LUCK

I just fixed my exact same problem. Everyone told me the starter was bad. I knew it had to be electrical because there was no noise when I tried to start the engine. Here's a good way to check to be sure your starter is not the problem. With your key removed from the ignition, the truck in neutral, and the parking brake applied, look under the hood and over the wheel well on the passenger side you'll see a long (about 6-8 inches) black box. This has a removable cover. Take it off and you'll see a bank or relays. First, swap out a relay from another spot on the relay block with the relay in the Clutch inhibit relay spot. The relay location should be marked on the top of the plastic cover. If your truck starts, then you know you have a bad relay. If it still doesn't start, remove the relay from the clutch inhibit socket. Next, take a piece of wiring, about 1 foot will do, and touch one end to the positive post on the battery and the other end of the wire to the socket. If you are looking down at the socket, you'll see 4 prong recepticles. The one to the right and closest to you should be the one you touch with the wire, if the engine doesn't crank, then try the other prong just above it. If the starter makes no effort to spin, then the starter is bad. If it does spin, then you have an open circuit somewhere between your battery to your clutch switch, ignition switch, back to your clutch relay. Rather than try to open harnesses and trace the wire, I just installed a push button and mounted it next to by fuse box below the steering wheel. A wire from the positive post to the button and back to the clutch relay socket took care of my problem.

Sounds like a bad Ignition friend