Honda Car Forum

need help trouble shooting the starting system. what else can it be?

I've owned several different cars, made by all the top manufacturers in my life. Your first problem: It's a Honda. But seriously, I must be the only person in the world, that has owned a Honda and a Toyota and will never buy one again. I've had nothing but problems with them, and I take care of my cars, with regular oil changes etc. Let's fix your problem: I'm going to assume you've started with the obvious test the battery, make sure battery cables are not corroded or loose. Then have your alternator tested/checked. If that's not it, buy a Chevy. Do it for your country, and get the economy back on its feet, before King George, his administration, and corporate America sells this country out and gives all our manufacturing jobs to China.

if it wont click u need a new bateery

Buy a Haynes manual (~$20) - it will give you all the troubleshooting tips you need. Good pictures, too. Haynes manuals are readily available at Autozone or similar.

what is the problem with the car? If the car is cranking over but will not fire the spark plugs or run the fuel pump then your problem is with the main relay. The main relay is located under the instrument panel, probably under the left side of the dash to the left of the steering wheel. That relay has a circuit board in it that cracks and opens the circuit for the ignition and fuel pump circuits. So if the engine is turning over but you don't have spark or fuel, that's your problem. Its very common on that year and model.if the engine is not turning over and you've changed the starter, you may have a problem with a neutral safety switch. On a manual car that prevents the car from starting unless the clutch is pushed in. On an automatic, its the switch that must be pushed in by the gearshift lever when the car is put in Park. If the neutral safety switch is open circuited, the starter won't turn when you turn the key to the start positon.Lastly, I don't know if you have power to the starter or not. There is usually a fusible link in the circuit that could melt if the starter was pulling too much current. A fusible link would open circuit the starter and it would not turn when you turn the igniton key ON.additionally, the battery may not have enough juice to turn the engine over or the cables may be loose or corroded.There are other possibilities depending on whether the engine turns over or not. It would help if you could give us more information on what the car is or isn't doing.hope that helps

My car would crank, but would not start (1990 Honda Accord), it ended up being the "Main Relay" (basically a fuse for your fuel pump)Cost me 200 bucks, but if I had done it myself, it would have been 70 bucks. ( I was away from my tools, grrr)

with out knowing if you can crank but not start, or if you just get a click, if you can crank the car but not start i would see if you have spark.... they sell spark plug like devices for this at auto stores, if you have spark but still no start, remove a spark plug and smell... do you smell gas, do you have fuel, did you purchace e-85? when was the last time you had a timing belt replaced, is the check engine light on? i need more info to direct you to the problem... please reply with more data

Hot days are when a lot of Main Relays fail. I always like Honda Guy's answers, but I wanted to give this link.































autorepair.about.com

try disconecting the battery then reconnect it may reset system always try the simple things first