Honda Car Forum

This morning, my car didn't start and I noticed I left the lights on. I jumped the car and everything was cool. I drove it around, turned it off and it started right up without a jump. So I thought everything was OK, but about an hour ago, I started it up, and took off--1 minute later I made a U-turn and it just shut off. I tried to start it, but you can hear it turn just fine but no start. I pushed it to a parking lot. What could be the problem?Thanks!!!!!!1

Dead battery. You used up the last of its life. If you can't get it to a mechanic, go buy a battery and install it yourself. Unless you were having other problems with the car that you aren't mentioning, I'd say you have a 99% chance the battery is D-E-D, dead!

Check 4 fuel, Check 4 spark, Maybe the timing belt just break.

Just close your eyes and click your heals 3 times while saying Honda's are reliable, Honda's are reliable, Honda's are reliable. If that don't work at least your saving gas.

Take it to Honda for Quality Honda Service. If you want Honda Quality, Pay Honda Prices!

It could be your battery, but if it died while you were driving it it might be your alternator, because your battery supplies the starter to start the car and the alternator supplies everything else while you are driving...so if the battery was going dead that means that the alternator was being used to help start it...I would suggest you go by a new battery and replace it, if that doesn't work then check your alternator...

It sounds that your vehicle has what is called a no start problem, The vehicle is cranking but not turning, There are different problems. 1 might have no spark 2 no fuel or 3 no pressure. Check spark very easy take one ignition cable out of Cly and touch it to anything that is metal to car if you see spark then that OK. Then take dist.. cap off have someone crank car if you see the rotor turn then it has pressure. Disconnect a fuel line from a filter if you have pressure then its OK. If no spark your dist.. ignition coil or module may burn. If rotor doesn't turn then timing belt broke, and if no fuel pressure fuel pump bad.

1988! That's almost as old as my 1985 CRX Si and with the CRX having 250,000 miles on it, my bet is that your car has very high mileage as well. There could be a number of reasons your car gave up the ghost but here's my best shot...First, if your battery has enough oomph to turn the engine over, it has enough oomph to start the engine as well. Though you drained the battery down from leaving the lights on, the battery is not your problem. Buy yourself a cheap battery charger, connect it to your battery and plug it in. Let the charger charge your battery overnight and calm yourself knowing the battery is not your current problem.The alternator does supply electricity but only when the engine is running! Otherwise, ALL power comes from the battery. Not starting is not because of your alternator UNLESS it somehow got disconnected and I doubt that.So, this problem came about when you left your lights on... Sounds like Murphy's Law got you. Something else happened.If the car drove fine before you made that u-turn I would say it is not a fuel problem. Fuel problems don't die immediately like you experienced. Electrical problems do though!The most likely cause of your problems has to do with your distributor not supplying electricity to your spark plugs. The worst case scenario is a broken timing belt. If you take your distributor cap off and watch the rotor inside while someone turns the engine over, you will know immediately if the timing belt is broken. If the rotor turns when the engine is cranking, the belt is fine and hooray for you, the fix will be cheaper. If the rotor does not turn, you are in for repair bills exceeding $350 easily and that's only if the engine didn't damage itself while being cranked without being able to time the valves and pistons!If the rotor does turn, a likely cause is the igniter module. Not exactly cheap but under $200. It could be as simple as a failed coil, distributor cap, rotor, or coil wire too. Don't give up on it yet.Unless you do automotive work yourself, you need to tow the car to a reputable shop or to a Honda dealer for repair and it might be time to consider a newer car.Good luck!

OH PLEASE!All these people with their maybes and could be this or that...If you want to know, I have the 97 Honda Accord and I have had the exact same problem twice now (and had it explained to me by my mechanic and by an auto electrical specialist...)Simple check... is everything dead inside the car or is it just that the car won't start??If the car just won't start then it's the brushes inside your starter. They've worn down through age and use and are just barely making contact. If you take the car to an automotive electrical specialist tell them to check it out. Replacing those brushes is about $95 dollars for parts + labour. You'll need to do this about every 2 - 3 yrs from now on (Older Hondas are notorious for wearing out brushes... electrical pigs).Drive safe, be aware!

So apparently reading owns everyone but Les. Make sure that you have spark, and fuel. If you don't have either, main relay. No fuel, possibly a fuse or bad pump. No spark, the easiest thing is just going to be buying a new ditributor.