My car hasn't run in three weeks.
There is no cranking. There is no sound.
I've replaced the starter. The battery is new.
I tried bypassing the VATS and I'm 90% sure it's not that.
I visually inspected the neutral safety switch and it appears to be fine.



I don't know what else to check for. I'm getting really pissed at this car.

 

Try a remote starter switch, see if it will fire up that way.

 

Have you checked the fusible link?

 

could you ellaborate? seems interesting.






And I checked all the fuses under the dash... are there more under the hood?

 

There should be a smaller cable coming off the positive battery post that is a fusible link. Check for power on both sides of it.

 

I've heard if I bridged both terminals on the starter with the key set to ON, it should crank... is this true?

 

You should just sell the car. Hondas are in style right now.....

 

I'm going to try to hotwire that bitch

 

Smart thinking. If the hotwire fails for some reason, starts a fire and burns the car down, count that as an insurance claim.

Insurance money or running car, it's a win win.

 

my ****ing car.



I connected the two terminals of the starter, and it clicks... but it does not crank.

 

If you have any friends that are mechanics try to get one to have a look at your car.

 

all my friends come to me when they have car problems

 

take a look at your other post on this same topic

 

QUOTE]Originally posted by MightyMouse
Token Put the red lead of a volt meter on the small post(the one with some small wires attached) on the starter and touch the black lead to one fo the starter bolts. Have someone turn the key n let us know what happens. Be careful, your car may decide to crank or turn over as you are probing around, there is no need to remove fingers or scalps during this operation. [/QUOTE]


wont it fry the multimeter fuse with all the amperage?

 

Fingers are over-rated. I say go for it.

No, I wouldn't think it would blow the fuse. Why would it?

 

the battery has like 500 amps or something doesn't it?
wouldnt that fry my cheapass radioshack multimeter?

 

I tried to directly wire the starter to the battery today.
I put the key in and turned it on, and crawled under the car and bridged the posts.
this made a mechanical clicking of the starter gear into the flywheel I think.
Why did it not attempt to turn over?

 

You will be fine measuring the voltage as described by MightyMouse. You will just be measuring the valtage from the terminal to ground.

Are you sure your battery is fully charged? My thirdgen doesn't get a lot of action any more because it is waiting to be worked on. Anyway, if it sits for 3 weeks something drains the battery.

Make sure your battery is fully charged. See how bright the headlights are.

 

I was thinking about that today... my car seems to eat power even when I don't use it. But I tried to jump the car in the parking lot and it had no affect. I think the battery is fine, but you never know. it could be a phantom battery.

 

lets go through a recap...

the car has not started in about three weeks, ever since I drove it to meijer... and then it wouldnt start in the parking lot on the way home.

when I turn the key nothing happens. no noise. security light comes on then turns off, or doesn't come on at all. SES light comes on and stays on. The volt guage on the cluster reads 12.

I just replaced the starter a week ago in the parking lot. when I crawl under the car to jump the starter by bridging the solenoid terminals, it clicks but does not turn the flywheel... possibly a bad battery or a misaligned starter? The battery reads 12.04v at the terminals.

I checked the fuses and they all are fine under the dash. I've tightened the battery cables to ensure they're not loose, and they are free of corrosion.



It's possibly a combination of problems.

 

This involves more work but, remove the starter, wire it back up to the harness with it off the car (tie/hold the starter down) NOW try jumping the starter. If it spins then you had it too tight against the flywheel/flexplate and need to shim it for proper clearance.

 

I'll try that. anything else?

 

I think the voltage to the starter is low. I'm no expert and diagnosing things via message boards leaves some info out but...

With really low voltage to the starter turning the key will do nothing. If the battery is low, all you get is a click.

I suspect the voltage at the starter isn't the full 12v.

try checking the big heavy cable that runs to the starter from the battery. Sometimes it is a replacement cable that has 2 bolts holding the cable to the metal part that attaches to the terminal. If this is the case, the end of the cable could be severly corroded.

If you suspect that the starter needs shims, you might want to just try adding shims rather than pull the starter all the way out.

Good Luck!

 

Check your ground wire.
Also check the block to body ground.
They can screw with ya.

Spent days workign on an old dump truck once and all we needed to do was pull the ground wire off and clean it up and the spot it bolted down to on the frame.


Matt

 

how do I shim a starter? I've never really heard any kind of instructions.

 

ok, nuff joking around. Heres a thought....try these:
1.) Hows the alternator working these days?!?!
2.) Check to make sure the alternator or serpintine belt is still there.
3.) Check the plugs to make sure they're still firing.


..hmm...thats pretty much all I can offer as n00b. Hope all turns out well!
-Greg

 

Instructions. And most auto parts stores will have the shim kits.

 

you're in sterling heights? I'm in Ypsilanti. Just a small world.
The spark plugs are new, but that wouldnt affect anything because the car does not even crank! Anyway, the alternator is probably fine, because the battery light would have come on (correct?) by now. I think the new starter just needs to be shimmed... but even then theres another problem; THE CAR STILL DOES NOT CRANK VIA TURNKEY! The only way the starter makes any movement is if it's wired directly to the battery.

So I think that the starter is too tight to the flywheel, causing it not to turn... and that I have a seperate ignition problem. I need to know how to test the neutral safety switch so that I can verify that it's not that. I'm fairly sure it's not the VATS, because I bypassed it (then unbypassed it after I found out thats not the problem),

I've been hearing that possibly the WIRE that runs from something to the starter may have burnt up... is this anything common? My friend who is a ford man said he has had to replace this wire on his mustang,

 

Sounds to me like one of your Fusible links. There are more of them than you know. My parents Suburban have a bunch of them, all related to the starter and the ignition switch. Anyways, this was the problem they had. I went through the whole thing just like you. A fusible link around the brake booster was kinda hidden from view and it turned out that it was burnt out. Changed the link and it runs fine. Also I think your on the right track with the shims. I just changed my starter and had the same problem. I just went to get some shims and its fine now. One more thing i noticed is that my battery always reads around 13.6 volts when not running and around 14.7 14.8 when its running. You might want to look into that. But for my two cents....lol....more like a dollar....i say its a fusible link

Lates,

Demo

 

I vote for a bad ground, remove and clean all ground cables and the negative battery terminal. I wouldnt ruleout your vATS if you have it. If the old starter had shims chances are the new one will need them too. Just cause the battery reads over 12 volts it doesnt mean it has the cranking amperage to turn the motor over. Take the battery somewhere and have it tested and charged. Trying to jumpstart a dead battery will just burnout your alternator

good luck

 

bt fusable link do you mean an actual wire that is made to burn up instead of a fuse? someone said something like this.

 

Yeah Token,

The fusible link is exactly that. Its just a wire made to burn up / severe the connection. They come in different gauges/wire size. They are fairly easy to identify. It looks like your basic wiring with a little cylinder type plastic thing around it. the cylinder thing doesnt hold anything that i know of its just there to identify the size/volts of the link. They come in every color just like the regular wiring. Just dont replace it with regular wire unless its just for testing. There is a reason for them. They are exactly like a fuse, the only thing i can figure is that GM used them because they didnt think they would go out. But I am glad it happened on my parents suburban because I got my Blazer CHEAP due to the same reason. I just looked around and saw a burnt link. Went to get the link before actually picking up the Blazer for 200 bucks. You should have seen thier faces when i just put a wire in and drove off If ya want a pic of one just let me know Ill get one for ya. Just gotta get batteries for the camera.

Lates

 

oh a picture would be excellent if you could! :hail:

 

What happens when you do this? I would hold off on shiming the starter, it may not need it. You may have screwed up the starter when you put it in, it is easy to twist off the internal wires that are connected to that little stud that has the small wires going to it. A full rotation of the the male threaded part and you will be SOL. All the starter needs is a little juice to the small terminal, a good ground and an *** load of amperage to the big terminal and it will spin. If all of these conditions are satisfied and the starter wont attempt to crank the flywheel then it is time for a new starter. "I just replaced it " is not the same as "It works" I would get the key working first.

 

oh wow thanks for the optimism lol
when I turn the key there is *no clicking* from the starter
therefore without using a multimeter I've concluded that it's not getting juice

 

I just dont want you to spend alot of time looking for a problem that is not there. Please make certin there is no power to the small stud when the key is turned, then at least you can eliminate 1 possiable problem. Also I dont know what to tell you if there is no juice when you turn the key, ignition swich? burnt wire? fuse? bad connection? you could spend days looking over all this crap.

 

I'll definitely test the voltage tomorrow on the starter

 

Ok, first things first.

1. Does your car have VATS?

2. Check voltage at the purple wire at the starter motor while the
Someone else turns the key. Should be at LEAST 9 volts.

3. Is the purple wire going to the correct terminal? (should be the
one closest to the block)

4. Are you getting at least 12 volts at the power terminal for the
Starter? (where the battery cable connects.)

Check these items, and let me know what ya find. Then we can
take it from there.

 

1. I already bypassed VATS, and that wasn't the problem.

3. Nobody crawled under my car and swapped the wires on me. The car DID START BEFORE.

 

"tomorrow" has now become yesterday, what did you find

 

lots and lots of rain
the state of Michigan is covered in a fierce downpour that has not let me under my car.
I'll get under there as soon as it dries out



it's still raining!

 

ok, sounds like my problem, i bet you money the chip on your key has gone bad there fore the ignition won't read which then won't allow the car to start, if you can get the car runnin check to see if the security light stays on if so your key is more then likely bad, if you have a spare try it,,, otherwise on mine we did think that the rod that runs down the top of the column into a switch came loose and wouldn't work..... this sounds crazy but while we were messing around tryin **** we turned the key to ACC and then all the way to start and the car fired right up, bizarre i know... but from the off position it wouldn't,,, don't ask me its weird,, but my cars in the shop now so i'm lettin the pros look at it ....... good luck.. later

 

I've already bypassed my VATS... not the problem.

I wish it was

 

I tested the voltage at the starter today.
On the big power terminal, it read 12.25 volts (about the same as at the battery).
I had someone turn the key and I measured the voltage on the ignition terminal.
Nothing. Zero. No juice.

I looked for a fusable link for the ignition but only found them for the other terminal.
Where do I go from here?

 

I had the same starting problem for weeks. To make a long story short, I had done everything you've done and even replaced the park/neutral switch. I also was getting VATS signal but no juice at the selenoid. I found out (200 dollars later) from an electrical shop it was the starter enable relay. This is what I suspected when I looked at the starter system diagram in my haynes manual. But the manual did not say where it was in the car, so I took it to them. This sounds like it is your problem. They never told me where it was, but right after that I was putting in a new hood latch and cable, which they broke and said it was going to happen soon anyway, when I found a relay behind the plastic kick panel that the latch handle sits though. It looked new so this may be it, but I don't know for sure. If anyone else can confirm this is the enable relay or tell us where it's at I would bet this is your problem. Hope this helps.
Jason

 

I fixed it!!!
I was throwing codes 53 and 54, and number 53 seemed suspicious (but it could have been from my bypassing tests last week). Anyway, I took out the neutral safety switch, and bypassed it... Turned the key, and VROOOOM! It has been over a month!


I'm going to make a friggin tech article if nobody else does, for "Why wont my car start" lol
I've gone through just about everything...
BTW my starter relay is NOT under the kickpanel- where else could it be?

 

Now don't you just feel warm and fuzzy right about now . And didn't you do a visual inspection of the park/neutral switch about three weeks ago?

The Trickster!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

lol it just needed to be adjusted!
Actually, I dont even have it put back together yet!
I just was so happy that it worked, I didn't care what it looked like!

 

thank you everybody for your patience with me :hail:

 

...well hell, bout time now!!! Now all ya gotta do is go find some hotties to give a ride to.....ummmm...........................in your car?!?!?? since it's gonna be nice out for the whole week!
-Greg