Rep Power: 277

Before I say what happened today, let me explain what happened last year:
My girlfriend has a 1995 Civic Si (EX in the USA) and it wouldn't start. There was no electrical at all in the car but it wouldn't work from a boost neither. It turned out to be a blown fuse under the hood, more specifically it was the 80 amp battery fuse. We replaced it at Canadian Tire for $5 and it worked perfect.

Yesterday she drove her car to work (30 minute drive), parked it for the 8 hour work day and after work it wouldn't start at all. No cranking so it seemed like the battery was dead. I brought my Civic out there, hooked up some booster cables and it started up perfect.

This morning she drove her car to work again, parked it for the day and after work again it wouldn't start. I brought my car out again and also brought an Optima Yellow Top battery I bought on the way home, I figured it'd be better to boost her with that instead of risking my electrical system. I put the battery on the ground, hooked up the booster cables, turned the key......nothing. Now for the symptoms......when I turn the key one click, I can hear the fuel pump come on. The dome light is also on, the headlights work, and the stereo works fine. I checked the battery fuse again even though it was unlikely that, that was fine. So I hooked up the booster cables to my car and when I banged the negative cable off her negative terminal, there's no spark. Weird.......I hooked them up anyway, turned the key....nothing. Except there is a single click, I can hear a relay click under the hood somewhere. When I removed the 80 amp battery fuse and then pushed it back in, I could hear this relay going crazy clicking really fast until I got the fuse seated and then it stopped. I banged on the starting motor a few times to see if it was maybe seized but I figured if it was there would be a rapid clicking when turning the key.
So at this point the cables have been hooked to the battery for over 5 minutes......I turned the key again.....nothing. But I held the key in the start position for really long, more than 5-7 seconds and for some reason it turned over and started.

What could it be?

 
Rep Power: 328

You have voltage but not enough amperage. This is the same thing that happened to me and why I had to replace my battery. My meter in the car was showing good voltage but car would not turn over, I held the key and it finally started.

When I took the battery out well you can see the old battery pics in my thread.

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/2...k-56k-why.html

 
Rep Power: 277

So what's the fix? New battery? Why wouldn't it start with booster cables on it?

 
Rep Power: 277

This morning it started up for her although it was kind of slow to start. I went out to her car to give her my booster cables in case she needs them after work and she said, "Let me show you what it sounded like when I started it" and turned the car off........WTF? It wouldn't start again so I had to take her to work, who does that? Why would you turn off a car that is unreliable to begin with? I don't understand women at all.

 
Rep Power: 277

Okay I just went and took a good look at it. Here is what I found out so far:
- A multimeter tells me the battery has a full charge and is easily powering all electrical things in her car
- I swapped my battery into her car, nothing changed
- When she turns the key, I can hear the fuel pump coming on
- When she tries to start the car, there's a single CLICK noise coming from between the head and the firewall.
- I can't figure out how the spark plugs come out. Maybe my socket is not long enough to get all the way down there but it's possible there's no spark or the distributor is bad. Maybe a misfire?
- If I could find the starter (no idea what it looks like) I could bang on it to see if that's seized.
- All fuses are fine
- When I remove the spark plug cap and smell inside, it smells like gas.
- From under the hood I can hear a hisssssss noise when she turns the key all the way. Sounds like it's getting fuel.

So it could be distributor? Plugs? Starter?

 
Rep Power: 328

It is non of those I bet, sounds like it is a bad connection with the battery. It does not have to be on the battery it could be where the batter wire connects to the other components.... Chassis ground and main fuse block or whatever, could also be the wire going to the starter, perhaps the retaining nut is loos and you do not have a good connection there.

 
Rep Power: 277

Dome light is getting full power, what does that tell us about the battery connects? It's at least going to the fuse panel fine if that's the case I guess.

 
Rep Power: 0

u need to check voltage between the battery and the starter solenoid, then check for voltage across the starter solenoid(ull need 2 people). and the clicking ur hearing is either a relay, or the starter solenoid. if u dont have voltage at the starter, its wiring, if u have voltage drop across the starter solenoid then its operating normally. my guess is starter solenoid is going out. simplest test, tap on it with a hammer and see if it starts. and just because u have 12 volts at battery doesnt mean the battery is good, what is exact voltage

 
Rep Power: 277

Got it. I Googled for images of a starting motor to find out what it looked like, went outside and beat on it with a screwdriver a few times. Put the key in and it fired up no problem. So how much do you think it would cost to buy a starting motor? And how much do you think a shop would charge for labour.....like how long?

 
Rep Power: 0

hour two maybe, easy job man, hardly takes any time at all

 
Rep Power: 328

Before you replace the starter make sure the nut that holds the Ring terminal for the power is on tight. Leslies was doing this for a while and the ring terminal came loose.

The starter change is an easy job. You could do it.