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Hey guys
i have an 05 civic sedan lx sport I’m trying to fix. Car intermittently won’t start. Replaced the battery, didn’t fix the issue. Replaced the alternator, thought I fixed the issue, but again car intermittently won’t start due to partially drained battery I believe (car dash lights still came on but not enough battery power to start the car). I’m thinking there may be a parasitic draw on the battery? My multi meter reads 14.4 volts when I have the car running so I do believe the alternator is charging the battery
adequately. the only thing “wrong” with the car right now from what I can tell is that the DRL light is on on the dash, drl’s do not work but it looks like both headlights and high beams stil work. I checked fuses for the drl’s and I believe they are fine. Not an electrical guy so I’m stumped. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks
ryan

 
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check parasitic draws using multimeter on the fuse boxes
alternator must be OEM, hondas no like aftermarket alternators ans sensors
remove, clean and check grounds

 
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ok thanks for the info. So even a brand new aftermarket alternator would cause these issues?

 
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why, we don't know
but do check for parasitic draws, lots of rodents chewing wires incidents

 
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Serious question, have you tried smacking the ish out of the starter?

 
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nope haven’t tried that yet. But the car starts up every time I charge the battery so I’d be surprised if it was the starter?

 
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Fair enough. Still wouldn't hurt to try it. It's a free check that takes all of 5 minutes.

I had intermittent starting issues on my 2002 (never paid attention to the correlation between a jump start vs non-jump start) and had zero starting issues after I smacked the starter in a parking lot. I just used the business end of a 12" 3/8 socket extension (since I always have a full tool kit in my car), lined it up with the starter solenoid, and a couple good downward thrusts.

 
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Caveman

 
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Hey man.. if it's stupid and it works, it ain't stupid. lol

You know I always go for the free/cheap fixes or tests first

 
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Obviously the problem is low power from the battery. Either the battery is weak and/or parasitic draw. Disconnect the battery overnight. if it start in the morning the battery is fine.

 
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Ok so quick update, I was doing a parasitic draw test with multimeter and found that the #9 10amp fuse labelled “Back up” (under the hood fuse box) was at least drawing some of the power from the battery. Anyone know what this powers or anyone know where I can look at a wiring diagram? Thanks
ryan

 
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you sure that's under hood and not cabin fuse box @BrotatoChip ?

If it's labelled backup, I'm thinking it's the whole reverse light system. I'm thinking stuck reverse switch or short in tail light wiring.

 
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How dare you question me After reading all the components I convinced myself I was wrong, but....

 
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I'll be damned. All of those components with no other context made me think that Honda would put all that on a circuit fused inside the cabin. I just confirmed that with another forum post where some other dude had a parasitic draw on that same fuse (no resolution was posted, otherwise I'd link it)

@rhearty what was the amp draw from that circuit when you checked it?