whats this button?

lucky57

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#1
I have a 90 325I and I recently had to disconnect the airbag and remove the steering wheel and ever since then almost every time I start the car I have to push a small button under the dash on the far left way down by the hood release..the car would start then promptly die untill I push the button..it was like that for quite some time now the car just starts then dies regardlesss of the button..is this some sort of breaker or does it have something to do with the air bag??help..help
 

lucky57

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#3
ok that helps thanks..but the car will start but then dies could that be tied into the fuel pump some how?I would just like to have an idea of what the button is doing before I bypass it
 

lucky57

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#6
just to start the car and that was just most of the time..the button acctually acts more like a breaker switch than anything..the strange part is that it all happened after I had to disconnect the airbag..and the airbag light still flashes also
 
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#8
It does sound like a fuel pump shut off switch because the car does start. But maybe once you start the car, the airbag tells the car that something serious is wrong with it and the car is undrivable and shuts it off. The previous owner could have had the same problem and made that by pass switch. Before selling the car he fixed the problem and now you restarted the whole thing by removing the airbag but you already have the switch. I never heard of anything like this, so guys help us out, what does everyone else think?
 

lucky57

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#9
Well I did some wire chasing..I dropped the underside of the dash and chased the wires from thatb little switch and found they went to an old alarm system I disconnected it and it started right up..thanx for all the input
 

junglestylz

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#11
It is called a valet switch. You are correct when you think it kills all vacuum on the fuel supply. A lot of car alarms (Clifford AvantGuard4) had these on them to serve one of two purposes:
1. Make it so that you can't start 6the car if you don't press it.
2. Make it so that if you open the drivers side door while the car is running (like if someone yanked you out at a light), and if you fail to press it the car will die.
 
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#13
similar question...

my car is not having any problems starting, it runs just fine, shuts off on cue, etc. however, i have a switch, not a button in the same location. if it's part of an alarm system, it's since been disconnected and removed. i haven't noticed any problem with the engine dying thus far. the thing that i don't understand is that this is the type of switch that returns to a position after you push it. i.e. it starts on the left, if you push it right, it returns to the left immediatly with no help from me. any ideas?
 

lucky57

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#18
well I found out the other day that the one in my car kepp going off all the time so the removed the siren...go figure huh?
[?|]
 


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