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Hello all,

I have a a 2010 civic. I have a strange issue with starting.

On a random, when I try to start the car, all the lights on the console will go off with 1-2 tick sound, but no cranking. Sometimes, when ignition is turned off, and turned on after a few seconds, the usual console lights will show, but still it wont start.

The first time it happened, I thought it was a problem with the battery, and I tried to jump start it, but it did not help. Then to replace the battery, I loosened the battery terminals, and just then, I had an instinct to try start the car, and to my astonishment, it started like normal.

This happened a few more times, and I kept repeating this without knowing why. In between, I cleaned the battery terminals and the connector, and applied battery terminal protection spray, and it did not show any problem for around two weeks, and then it came back. Thinking, if the battery connection had a problem, how is the console lights glowing, and why is it unable to crank.

One day, instead of loosening the battery terminal, I thought of moving the battery back and forth, and to my surprise this time also it started, and I started doubting the battery again. But when I took the battery for a check-up, I was told, the battery is relatively new, and is fully charged, and hence no need to change it.

So I am back to the old solution of shaking the battery 2-3 times. Once it is started, it runs smooth.

Thinking

1. f the battery connection had a problem, how is the console lights glowing, and why is it unable to crank.
2. if it was a problem with my battery, how did it start when all I did was moving the terminal ?
3. if it was a problem with the battery terminal, then why did it not crank when I tried to jump start it, since the battery or the battery-terminal connection would be irrelevant during a jump start ?
4. How is it working after shaking the battery ?

From the above, can anyone tell me what is the real issue I am facing.

 
Rep Power: 126

How corroded are your terminals in general? It might be time to replace them.

 
Rep Power: 222

You'll get enough juice to power small stuff but not enough to crank the engine. Terminals or potentially the wires connected to the terminals are bad

 
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Thanks for pointing in the correct direction. The ground cable was so much damaged. I replaced it with a new one. Hopefully there will be an improvement. And also this answers all of my queries.

 
Rep Power: 224

Yeah, that ground strap has definitely seen better days.