KevinJ

My wife has a 2001 Honda Civic that's been very reliable for us. Just this past weekend it wouldn't start. We took the battery and the starter in for testing and all tested fine on the bench. Suspected ignition switch, but after putting battery and starter back in, it started fine. Suspected loose connection maybe?

Then after using all weekend with no issue, it wouldn't start this morning. You turn the key, get one click and then everything in the car is completely dead. Pulled key out of ignition and tested lights. Nothing worked. Disconnected battery ground, and went and made a pot of coffee. Came back and reconnected and the car started fine.

Suspect some sort of computer module or security issue? Nothing after market in the car. Thanks for any help in advance.

mcnoople

1 click followed by nothing makes me suspect a poor connection at the battery. Unhooking the battery and reconnecting it would follow this suspicion. Do the nuts on your battery terminals run out of travel before they get tight on the battery post?

KevinJ

Battery connections seem really solid. They don't bottom out. 12volts at the wire behind the connectors even when it won't start. it's almost like the circuit is being disabled, and breaking the ground clears it.

Oh.. also.. it seems the battery is charging, which I wouldn't think would happen if the connections were bad.

KevinJ

I tested the connections just now like this... put the headlights on, and wiggled the crap out of the ground and positive. Lights did not flicker at all. I don't think the connections are bad on either end. But... I guess I will have to wait until it cuts out again to really test it.

ezone

Completely dead, meaning zero electric power to everything, lights, dash, dome, horn, etc?

Agree.
Battery, cable clamps, cables, all their connections (check pos and neg, either could cause this).... something between the battery and the rest of the car could not support the demand during a high amp draw situation.

KevinJ

Yup. Completely dead. No buzzer, no bell, no lights of any kind.

what is the ELD? Wiring diagram seems to indicate voltage for everything passes through this in the fuse box? Or maybe the main relay in the dash?

I can't find anything loose. And like I said...clearing 12v from the system and waiting a few minutes seems to correct the issue. Almost like something is having it's state or memory cleared.

mcnoople

The ELD is the "electronic load detection" and it is a module that lives in the fuse box. The PCM (engine computer) uses it to determine the how much amperage the alternator needs to supply to keep the battery properly charged. They do go bad on civics, but the symptom is dead batteries and alternators that don't charge.

It is rare, but from time to time you can find cars that have internally frayed/broken/corroded battery cables that can't supply power properly. Next time it acts up take a test light and check to see if you have power at the shiny 8mm bolts in the under hood fuse box. One of these large terminals is the power feed for the box. If power is not getting to the box, then you know the problem is in the cable or the connection at the battery.

ezone

The ELD cannot cause your problem. All I ever see it cause is a fault code when it's bad.

You will need to learn HOW to find the problem, then wait for the car to act up to check it. As long as it works correctly you aren't likely to find the problem.

KevinJ

Thanks for all the info, guys.
Yeah... I think that I will just need to trace back from the battery (when it fails again) with a probe/meter until I find where the voltage is lost. I can't make the battery cable fail, no matter how hard I wiggle on it... but checking in and out of the fusebox sounds like the next step, and then down the line from there.