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Car won't start, 5th gen

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2018 8:15 pm
by mills
Bit of a strange 1 as the car has been running fine with no signs of starter motor/ignition switch starting to fail.
Parked the car up today after driving back from work, couple of hours later it won't start. Ruling out the battery as its quite new, genuine honda battery, all dash lights and radio etc are strong.
Fuel pump primes so ruling out main relay.
And had no intermittent starting /cutting out problems associated with faulty ignition switch so ruling that out to.

I'm thinking starter motor as I'm getting no crank when turning the key. I've give it a few gentle taps and rocked the car back and forth whilst in gear but still no joy. But I've heard the internals can just give up without any signs.

Any thoughts guys :?:

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2018 8:50 pm
by Drax
Dizzy :)

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2018 10:28 pm
by Vtecmec
You can test the starter by putting a live straight to it. Worth double checking the earth's in that area too.

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2018 6:16 am
by NCCMUR
My starter motor done exact same when i had it.
Turned out it was the brushes that needed replaced

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2018 10:47 am
by Scott560
an easy test can be to remove the starting wire (the one that is activated when you turn and hold the key), and check if it has 12v.

You can do this without a multimeter. Remove a bulb of some description. Stick one end on the (i assumed) spade terminal on the loom side, and then earth the other side of the bulb.

Ask an assistant to hold the key in the crank position, bulb should light up.

Last time i diagnosed a non-start like it, it became apparent that the owner has put the loom connector onto the wrong spade terminal (rover 820 vitesse - not sure why there were 2 spade terminals, a positive to feed to the solenoid, and a positive off the main feed from the battery).

Using the bulb method means you can do it in situ, no tools needed, and instantly rule out immobiliser/loom/ignition type issues.

I think i still have an H22a5 starter if your desperate.

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2018 1:15 pm
by wurlycorner
If your starter isn't turning it's a pretty simple circuit, battery, ignition switch, starter solenoid, starter motor, earth etc.

It could be the starter contacts on the ignition switch, even if the rest of the switch is fine. But to start with (no pun intended);
mills wrote:I've give it a few gentle taps and rocked the car back and forth whilst in gear but still no joy.
Replace the highlighted bit with few good whacks from a big spanner and try again.
Then check all the electrical connections to the starter motor (undo them and check properly) check the earths and wiggle the battery terminal connections.

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 4:47 pm
by mills
Thanks for the replies. Haven't had chance to check anything out yet. I'll probably just get a second hand starter and swap them over to start with. If it's not that, then it won't hurt to have a spare.

Re: Car won't start, 5th gen

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 2:52 pm
by mills
Ello guys, so I replaced the starter motor and ignition switch and still no start.
I'm starting to think it could be dizzy related :?:
I still have no crank at all when turning on the ignition.

Re: Car won't start, 5th gen

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 3:07 pm
by Vtecmec
It'll crank even without a dizzy attached......

You need to fault find the wiring from key to starter.

Re: Car won't start, 5th gen

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 3:11 pm
by Scott560
Nope, wont be the dizzy - you can crank the car over with no dizzy connected at all to the ECU (as i do this after an oil change, crank over to fill the filter / build pressure before starting the engine).

if you changed the switch and the starter - then i suspect the problem is immobiliser? Have you used the red key at all? does the immob light flash at all?

is it an auto - there is some sort of safety/override normally on autos that will prevent crank.

Do you have an aftermarket immob? seen old ones not work properly (normally take them out myself)