Need help, civic wont start after 7days parking.

[BTL3.0]

Hey guys. Need some expert help with mu dd. 95civic with a 96gsr . 5spd 180k. Battery is 1 month old. Test fine. No issue. Clean out ign switch. Wont start. Buy new starter. Wont start. Main relay check, all solder joint perfect. Only 4yr old, same for plugs, wires, cap and rotor.
When I try to crank the only thing I hear are the fuel pump priming, and the click from the relay under the dash. All fuse check out. No blown even the 50A IGN fuse is ok.
Tried the single ground wire from starter to battery. Nothing. Same noise. Wont crank. All lights work. No dimming whatsoever. Try jump starting, nothing. Check the alarm wiring. All fine. I have not try push start yet, its snowing. Im alone also. Dont know to check plugs for spark by myself. All ground point are solid. Recheck, seem fine. Everything works except for not wanting to start. I need my car to work.

TIA

 

[fifthearth]

Do you have a meter ? I would maybe check to see if you are getting any voltage @ the starter (wires going to the starter) when you try to crank it.

Get the wiring diagram for the car and follow through to see where the potential is missing. From the sounds of it, looks like the starter isn't even getting power...

 

[BTL3.0]

Without cranking. Turn key to ON. I test to see if there are anything on the starter. I get 11v. Just measuring from the power cable and ground cable coming off the starter. Ill see if I can get someone to crank while I measure it again tonighy.

 

[itrsteve]

Sounds like the starter or starter solenoid went, how successful is pop starting?

 

[Aluminsx]

Just a shot in the dark but does your car have something like a clutch interlock. In another words will it crank if the clutch is not depressed. Maybe there is a relay that is not picking up that your clutch is depressed.

 

[Hapa88]

Without cranking. Turn key to ON. I test to see if there are anything on the starter. I get 11v. Just measuring from the power cable and ground cable coming off the starter. Ill see if I can get someone to crank while I measure it again tonighy.

I think you should only get getting voltage when you are actually starting, not just sitting in the ON position.

Also 11V seems low, voltage should be 12V (and ~14V when the car is running) otherwise it could be a dead battery.

Sounds like the starter or starter solenoid went, how successful is pop starting?

This would be my second guess if you can completely rule out the battery.

Definitely roll start the car (pop the clutch while in gear) and see if runs fine.. Check the battery with a volt meter to make sure you're at ~14.4v with the alternator running. Do a 15 min cruise minimizing any power drains (like turn off A/C, fan, Radio, headlights, etc). Come back, turn car off and then immediately turn it back on ... see if that works.

 

[04HondaNSX]

Check your Distributor. They tab inside could be worn down preventing the car from starting. (Won't send any power to the spark plugs)

 

[BTL3.0]

The clutch thing, it will only start if its depress all the way. If u try to start without pushing down the clutch, nothing will happen. Main relay wont click ir anything. Ill have to find someone to help me push the car then pop the clutch. I tried by myself and it didnt worj very well.

 

[gdae]

Just a shot in the dark but does your car have something like a clutch interlock. In another words will it crank if the clutch is not depressed. Maybe there is a relay that is not picking up that your clutch is depressed.

Bingo. If you can push-start the car then I may very well have the answer for you. Ok, when you push in the clutch to start the car, you should engage the interlock switch. But ... Hondas are notorious for the little pad (that the switch plunger pushes against) rotting away over time and crumbling. The plunger then goes down into an empty hole. A quick way of finding out is to reach up there and see if it crumbles in your hand.

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com...catcgry3=4DR+DX&catcgry4=KA5MT&catcgry5=PEDAL

Looks like you might need part 23, Honda #46505-SA5-000, "Pad, Pedal Stopper," cost: $1.54. Snap it into the hole and done.

How do I know? Because I JUST NOW got back from the dealership getting a few for my '93 civic. They keep them in stock, BTW. Lately I've been crawling under the dash and plunging the interlock switch with my finger to start the car.

The problem even extends to our NSX's. If your brake lights one day won't turn off, ever, and run your battery down ... same problem.

 

[BTL3.0]

plunger and stopper checked. Both fine. I crawl under the dash, one hand push on the clutch all the way down, the other pushing the plunger, it push in and pop out fine. Nothing crumble. The white stopper still there.
One thing though, with the fuel pump keep priming, I should smell the excess fuel right? But I dont smell anything. I would think the engine would be flooded by now. I have a fuek pressure gauge on top of the fuel filter. After couple time of priming the pressure only read 20psi. Normally its aroynd 30 some after starts.
Dony know if that will help.

 

[syndicate]

Is the car cranking and not turning over or not doing anything? Aftermarket alarm or killswitch? You need to meter the starter wire (blk/wht) heavy gauge wire at the key WHILE holding the key in the start position AND activating the clutch relays. You can temporarily jump the two wires together by unplugging the clutch switch (there are 2, one for the clutch and one for the cruise control, both are attached to the clutch pedal) and sticking a paper clip or piece of wire into the 2 terminals of the plug. This will rule out the clutch switches, the ignition switch and could help rule out the starter. You can call me if you are really confused. (PM me)
Good Luck
Jay

 

[BTL3.0]

Its.not doing anything at all. I will try the clip and measure volt while trying to crank and report back.

 

[BTL3.0]

Now i know wat cause it not to start. Resetting the SRS using the paper clips method.

We push start the car and it start after 2 tries. Earlier when i was messing around i pull the srs fuse out, now the light is on AGAIN. so i decide to reset it using the same method. Guess what? It wont start again. I pull the ecu and back up fuse out for now. Hopefully in a couple minutes it will start. If not, i have topush start it AGAIN.

 

[BTL3.0]

Well it did work. Now it wont. Push start it again, after resetting the srs light one more time. It starts, let it run for 15mins. Go out and the temp gauge is reading H all the way up. Turn it off and it wont restart.. Now im stump. Tempt sensor on the block? Stuck thermostat?

The first time it was running this evening, the battery reads 13v. The second time it was 11.57v, now what?

 

[fifthearth]

Don't think the temperature issue and the starting issue are related...

But when your car is running, it shouldn't read below 13V or else there's issues with your alternator.

When your car is sitting, it shouldn't read below 12V, or else there's issues with one or more of the battery cells (assuming good alternator).

When your car is in the process of cranking and the voltage dips, it shouldn't dip below 10V or else there's an issue with your battery.

Check all your connections, make sure there's no loose cable causing high resistance in the circuit... you can put the meter between the + of the battery and the + on the starter once the car is RUNNING and see the voltage. It shouldn't be higher than 0.2 volts or else you have a high resistive path.... etc. same with the other connections. I would agree with the others to check the starter solenoid...

 

[BTL3.0]

i'm going to have to wait til sunday to work on it some more. going back to buy another starter and a thermostat.

today we pushed start it, let it idle for a little bit. went around the block, half way i see the needle starts to climb to hot.. it climb with acceleration..the harder the accel the higher the needle go up..

got home.. turn it off.. try to crank, i can hear the starter ticking away like crazy but no go.. try again and it's dead.. no more ticking. some of the indicator lights on the cluster aren't fully lit.. when they are full lit the car will start.. but if it's half way lit, nothing will happen.. oil, battery, and ecu indicator lights are the one that lit up halfway..

i check the voltage while the car is running and battery reads 13v+ ... when the car is off it's read between 12.5-12.7v ...

would a stuck thermostat cause the car to overheat??

 

[Aluminsx]

Yes a stuck thermostat would cause a car to overheat. You will also have no heat in the car when you put your heater on. It's very inexpensive to replace a thermostat so that's an easy problem to fix. Maybe you got a bad replacement starter.

 

[BTL3.0]

it sucks that all of these are happening at the same time.. yet 7 days prior to parking the thing nothing was wrong.. heat was hot, started up like a breeze.. so frustrated.. mechanic is booked up til tuesday, so until then i will try my best to fix it myself. i've change the t-stat and bleed the coolant before.. no biggy, just hate working in the 40s with snow falling.

 

[Hapa88]

Oh it's cold over there??? What's your battery's Cold Cranking Amps (CCA)?

 

[Midnight_Raven]

This might be a dumb question but have you checked to see if you have oil in the car? I can only assume if it sits for 7 days most of the oil settles down and your left with a unlubricated motor so maybe the motor is not cranking because it's bone dry and heating up because of the excessive friction. I'm most definitely wrong but hey no harm in checking I guess.

 

[BTL3.0]

Cold crank: 500amps
Reg. Crank: 625amps

I did check oil, oil is at correct spot on dip stick. A little bit below the full mark.

I have an aftermarket alarm also. I thought it might be the starter kill switch, so i look on the ign switch wire to trace where they had cut and hook up the wire kill switch. I found it, cut the wire going to the alarm. Reconnect the ign wire to itself to bypass the alarm brain. Still no work.

Currently its 20f outside. Could the cold crank affect it that much?

 

[Hapa88]

Currently its 20f outside. Could the cold crank affect it that much?

Simple answer, yes, but 500 CCA should be ok if it's in the proper condition.

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

Didn't read everyone's replies but I had a 98 civic that was giving me hard start issues. It would smell like gas but not turn over. Turned out to be a temperature sensor or something along those lines. It was reading the outside temperature was something like -20 outside...

 

[BTL3.0]

I dont think my 95civic is equip with the outside tempsensor.

 

[JohnJW]

check all your grounds including the battery connections. I think it may have something to do with all your problems.

check the one below the battery to the pass frame rail, then to the top of trans, obviously the one from the top rad support to valve cover, and lastly the one on top of the t-stat housing.

Good luck