Constant cranking

[attrapereves]

This has happened twice recently. Once when I was leaving work and once when my wife was practicing driving and was trying to restart the car after stalling.

I push in the clutch pedal, have the car in neutral, then turn the key to start the car. I keep getting cranking, but the car never starts. If I turn the key off, then attempt to start again, it fires up fine.

I thought maybe the transponder system for the keys was going bad, or the cutoff switch in the clutch. But if that were true, I don't think I'd get cranking at all.

Right now it's not a big concern as it's only happened twice, but if it starts occurring more often, I really need to look into the cause.

Any help?

[CTScott]

The transponder key not being recognized will allow cranking without firing, so it could be that. To verify, note if the blinking light on the dash goes off when insert the key in the ignition. If it continues to flash with the key inserted, then it is your issue.