CraigW

iTrader: (1)

A lot of people have had problems with corrosion on the battery terminals. It would take 2 people but you could hold key at start whiles someone applies pressure to the cables seeing if the engine will then crank over.

JohnnyBxo

Terminals look good. I'll give each a good wire brush to make sure I don't have any oxidized crap on them!

JohnnyBxo

Yes, lights all stay lit and no weird noises from starter.

In your opinion, is it worth swapping out the starter seeing how this problem is only limited to when the temperatures are below 40F degrees? It always seems to start, just takes a few tries.

ezone

I wouldn't do it on just a guess, because... it's not cheap and it's work. I'd at least want to verify and test first.

HTH

JohnnyBxo

Thanks for all the help. I'm not entirely convinced it's starter. I'm not getting any kind of weird noises. The symptoms all seem to point to a voltage shortage when trying to start and I think you may have still been intially correct when you said the battery is draining over a time of sitting. I'm not sure why the cold would amplify this, but it does.

Fingers crossed that the work I did on it today does the trick. Today I took the ground that goes to the frame from the engine block off and did the same clean-up job I did on the negative terminal to frame connection. There was also a ground connection from the passenger side motor mount that went to the frame that I also removed and cleaned-up. The only connection I didn't check was the positive terminal connection that goes to the alternator, only on the alternator end. The positive terminal was nice and cleaned-up still from the last time I cleaned it.

We'll see!

ezone

Disconnect the battery for that duration so the car can't drain it?

I seriously doubt this is an issue.

jackmd

I have the same problem. Cleaned up both grounds from engine to frame, also ground from negative post to frame. Cleaned up positive cable at battery. Will not even turn over very fast with a boost from a running vehicle with good quality booster cables. Even when the battery is new with booster cables connected to positive battery and engine block. Could it be the viscosity of the grade of motor oil I am using. 5w30. -15 C.

ezone

Oil is not correct for the car, why?

Probably needs a starter.

jackmd

Fixed.
It was the starter.
The Honda service manual suggests taking the exhaust off to make the job easier. The passenger side axle is a way easier method of gaining access to the starter. Start to finish took 2 hours.