phantommaggot

Hi.

So, mother of my child drives a 2005 civic. She had a no start issue beginning of last week. Someone jumped her, she took it to advance and they sold her a battery.

A day later she went out to start the car and got nothing. I couldn't get over to look at it till the next day. She had some guy she works with come look at it. He convinced her it was the starter.

I went over there that afternoon, turned the key and got nothing... lights came on like they should, everything acted right, got the click from what I’ll assume was the start noid or relay. Lights dimmed a little..

Unfortunatly, After years of dealing with her I knew better than to argue with her, she insisted it was the starter and I should change it. I took the old starter to advance and had it tested, it was good but she still wanted the new one.... -_-...

New starter went in, and still nothing.

Took the battery and had it tested at advance. read ~13v and the amps were good (I can't recall what the number was though).

Any idea what it could be. I'd rather not be bussing my ex around.

Thanks.

mikey1

start by disconnecting the battery,

clean the battery terminals and connectors with a mixture of baking soda and water, make sure they are spotless, use a wire brush or fine grit sandpaper if nessessary,

concentrate on the battery posts and the inside of the connectors where they contact the battery posts,

let everything dry for 30 mins then wipe everything with a clean dry cloth

reconnect and try

phantommaggot

The terminals are good. Jumping the car wouldn't start it either.
Looked at all the fuses, both under the hood and under the steering wheel.
Grounds seem fine. I worked from lunch till dark on that turd. Exhausted every option I could come up with down to taking the battery back to advance and having them test it.
I called honda asking if the immobilizer could be acting up form the battery change, they told me it couldn't, and they would tow it and diagnose it for an absurd amount of money.

mikey1

how exactly have you proved this?


this would lead me to believe my original assumption.....poor battery/electrical connections

what exactly is it doing when you try to start it?

fast clicking noises?

take a video and post it with sound

check voltage at the starter motor?

what is the green key light doing during this madness?

ezone

Qualified accurate diagnosis is probably cheaper than an unneeded starter, unneeded battery, and all this time you have invested in it.

A simple $2 test light could help verify power, ground, and crank signal at the starter motor connections and give a direction to take it from there.

ezone

You've told us it just doesn't start, but you haven't told us what it DOES do.

phantommaggot

I cleaned the terminals, scraped them down and made sure they had a 'fresh' connecting surface. Same way I've done with anything I've messed with for the last 15 years. Sandpaper is great stuff.

I can't get to the car on a regular basis, the ex lives about 45 minutes away.

When I turn the key to 'start' I get one click. No fast clicks, none of the somewhat normal stuff you get with dead battery/starter/alt. It's exactly the same with I use jumper cables. Tried jumping it off a Dodge truck.. plenty of power.

With the key turned to run, I see the normal stuff, and a CEL that has apparently been on for a while.. -_-
I see the green key, but only for a second. Which is why I asked honda about the immobilizer to begin with. They told me to have the battery checked it may have a dead cell, but it should still jump and run off the truck battery... right..?

MAYBE the grounds need to be changed... they aren't exactly new looking... but I cleaned the connecting ends up.

do any of the relays in the fuse box under the dash have anything to do with starting the car? I didn't see anything listed in the manual or on the little sticker to label them.

ezone