Help, car starts and shuts off immediately!
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First timer here, please help. I searched the forums but couldn't find the answer I'm looking for.
I have a 2005 Honda Civic LX with 68,000 miles on it. One morning, the car wouldn't turn over. When I inserted the key and turned it, it started for a split second, the usual dashboard lights came up, and everything went dead. No lights on dashboard, no clicking sound, nothing. I turned the key again but still nothing. But when I hit the break pedal, the break lights come on in the rear. Apart from the break lights, nothing else worked. Nothing. I tried to jump start the car using a friend's car but I misunderstood the instructions on how to correctly attach the cables and in the final step, I connected the negative cable to the negative of my battery instead of the metal block. That may have short-circuited the battery. So I had the vehicle towed to the dealership and they said the battery went dead and charged me $172 for the new battery and a "diagnostic" fee.
But last week (and less than two weeks I had the new battery), I had the exact same problem! The car started for a second and everything went dead except the brake lights. I was so furious at the dealership but totally helpless. I had the car towed again to the dealership and demanded an explanation and they said it could've been a bad alternator or a starter and they wanted $110 just to diagnose the issue. That's when all hell broke loose and I lost my temper literally shouted at the service guy. He caved in, went to talk to his manager and said they will wave off the fee. I waited at the dealership and finally the service advisor came and said they're still unable to figure out the issue and need to keep the car until Monday (this was on a Saturday) when a senior tech comes in.
He called me up on Monday and said the alternator, starter, grounding blah blah are all fine but are still not able to pin point the issue but said the car started up just fine as if nothing happened. He said he will keep the car for more day and see if it fails again but it didn't. Finally, he called me up today and said the car is working fine without shutting itself off and that they haven't done any repairs to it (they are still unable to figure out the issue). I went to the dealership to pick up the car and soon as I got in and turned the ignition on, the same thing happened - it started for a second, all dashboards lights came up, and went dead the next second. Everything dead except brake lights which worked when I pushed the brake pedal.
I explained the situation to the service "advisor" again and he took the car back in, had a mechanic check it again, and finally told me that the mechanic is "positive" the issue is with the fuse box (electrical system) located under the hood. He said I may have a shorted fuse and when he jiggles the fuse box, it works (sometimes). He said the brand new fuse box is $472 and needed to be ordered from Canada (another week delay). I had enough with him and declined service and drove the vehicle home. I was very nervous when I turned the ignition on this time, but it stayed and was able to get home (about 4 miles away) safely. Now, whether or not the car will turn over tomorrow morning is a different story.
I apologize for the long story. What might be wrong with my car that even a Honda dealership cannot seem to figure out? The only recent services done on it are an oil change (using fully synthetic since the last 2 oil changes) and anti-freeze fluid (genuine honda fluid) flush and refill both by the same local mechanic (not at dealership). The local mechanic performed these services right infront of me. When he tried to refill the coolant fluid, he poured too much too fast and as a result, spilled most of it outside on the engine block and also may be near the fuse box but he quickly blow dried everything. This was about a month ago since the car shutting off started happening.
Apologize for the long story. Thanks for any help.
I have a 2005 Honda Civic LX with 68,000 miles on it. One morning, the car wouldn't turn over. When I inserted the key and turned it, it started for a split second, the usual dashboard lights came up, and everything went dead. No lights on dashboard, no clicking sound, nothing. I turned the key again but still nothing. But when I hit the break pedal, the break lights come on in the rear. Apart from the break lights, nothing else worked. Nothing. I tried to jump start the car using a friend's car but I misunderstood the instructions on how to correctly attach the cables and in the final step, I connected the negative cable to the negative of my battery instead of the metal block. That may have short-circuited the battery. So I had the vehicle towed to the dealership and they said the battery went dead and charged me $172 for the new battery and a "diagnostic" fee.
But last week (and less than two weeks I had the new battery), I had the exact same problem! The car started for a second and everything went dead except the brake lights. I was so furious at the dealership but totally helpless. I had the car towed again to the dealership and demanded an explanation and they said it could've been a bad alternator or a starter and they wanted $110 just to diagnose the issue. That's when all hell broke loose and I lost my temper literally shouted at the service guy. He caved in, went to talk to his manager and said they will wave off the fee. I waited at the dealership and finally the service advisor came and said they're still unable to figure out the issue and need to keep the car until Monday (this was on a Saturday) when a senior tech comes in.
He called me up on Monday and said the alternator, starter, grounding blah blah are all fine but are still not able to pin point the issue but said the car started up just fine as if nothing happened. He said he will keep the car for more day and see if it fails again but it didn't. Finally, he called me up today and said the car is working fine without shutting itself off and that they haven't done any repairs to it (they are still unable to figure out the issue). I went to the dealership to pick up the car and soon as I got in and turned the ignition on, the same thing happened - it started for a second, all dashboards lights came up, and went dead the next second. Everything dead except brake lights which worked when I pushed the brake pedal.
I explained the situation to the service "advisor" again and he took the car back in, had a mechanic check it again, and finally told me that the mechanic is "positive" the issue is with the fuse box (electrical system) located under the hood. He said I may have a shorted fuse and when he jiggles the fuse box, it works (sometimes). He said the brand new fuse box is $472 and needed to be ordered from Canada (another week delay). I had enough with him and declined service and drove the vehicle home. I was very nervous when I turned the ignition on this time, but it stayed and was able to get home (about 4 miles away) safely. Now, whether or not the car will turn over tomorrow morning is a different story.
I apologize for the long story. What might be wrong with my car that even a Honda dealership cannot seem to figure out? The only recent services done on it are an oil change (using fully synthetic since the last 2 oil changes) and anti-freeze fluid (genuine honda fluid) flush and refill both by the same local mechanic (not at dealership). The local mechanic performed these services right infront of me. When he tried to refill the coolant fluid, he poured too much too fast and as a result, spilled most of it outside on the engine block and also may be near the fuse box but he quickly blow dried everything. This was about a month ago since the car shutting off started happening.
Apologize for the long story. Thanks for any help.
#2
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Rep Power: 210 Re: Help, car starts and shuts off immediately!
See if you can scan it for codes. Sounds like a bad ELD by the way it comes and goes when he jiggles the fuse box. I couldn't find the original I posted but, go here for info on the ELD: https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...-01-civic.html
#4
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Check or have someone check your timing. You could be off a tooth or more. Your cam and/or crank sensors are sensing the timing is off so they tell the PCM to shut the car down right away to prevent damage to the engine.
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