Ford Repair: Starter engagement, neutral safety switch, clutch pedal

Question
I have a 92 ford escort. The starter will not engage. The battery is fine..had it checked,  the starter and silonoid are fine...had them checked. Here's the story on the day it happpened.

I came to my car after just starting it five minutes prior. Started it up and it made this loud grinding sound, I shut it down quickly and tried to start it again... NOTHING, no click no nothing. I pushed started it and found the the load grinding sound happened when I pushed in the clutch... throw out bearing.. I thought. Having to get back to work I was going to shift without using the clutch but the noise stopped and hasn't come back since but I am not able to start the car with the key.

What about this clutch safety switch or a neutral switch or some call an inhibitor switch?? Can this cause the problem and if so where are these switches located?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Answer
It sounds like the starter was not disengaging from the flywheel.  That was the grinding noise that you were hearing.  The neutral safety switch is mounted to the clutch pedal, and if it is bad, it can cause the power to the starter to be interrupted.  From your story, I believe that starter is causing all of your problems.  You should carefully test the starter with a test light, while it is acting-up, and still installed in the vehicle.  Check for power at the starter, while someone is attempting to start the engine.  If the starter has not failed completely, it may test good when it's removed.

I hope this helps,
Dave