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I have 2001 civic lx. 200K miles

today i was driving around fine. and then when i turned the key to start my car, the engine cranked for a second and then it went silent. battery is fine and all the lights come on and i hear the electric motors in the doors working fine, locking and unlocking.

but the engine doesn't turn. what could I be dealing with here? maybe connection between the key and the starter has gone bad? or bad starter motor? or could it be that the transmission has finally died? how much money am i looking at for fixing something like this?

thanks for any insights.

 
Rep Power: 224

There are a lot of different issues that could cause that. It would have to be diagnosed before having any idea on a cost to fix.

Could be the starter, loose battery cables, ignition switch, starter relay, transmission range switch (if auto), clutch switch (if manual), or just some blown fuses.

 
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Just the darnest thing. I went back to the parking lot and tried to figure out what was going on. And at first, it did the same thing. key turned, power came up, lights and motors all worked but engine didn't turn.

And then i was trying to figure out how to put the car in neutral while the car isn't running and figured out there was a lock for it next to the shifter. so I engaged the release for the lock and shifted between park and neutral a couple of times.

And when I put the car back into park and turned the key, it cranked for a second before stopping.

So I repeated the lock/release and putting it in the park and neutral again.

And then when I turned the key again,. the car started right up. so it must have been some kind of connection that got misaligned in the key/ignition assembly? Is there some thing in there that can be mechanically loosened to lost connection to the starter?

I do have a habit of jamming my key all the way in before turning it. Maybe that's what's causing it? really I have no idea. But for now it started and runs fine and my car is back in my parking lot.

 
Rep Power: 222

Sounds like the park contact in the transmission range switch may be going. Relatively cheap from the dealer and easy to swap. In the meantime you can put the car in neutral whenever you need to start it

 
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I see. thank you for the reply. very helpful.