grass

I just bought a 88 crx si with a ls swap I put a new battery in and the car will start sometimes and then sometimes it wont. I checked the ground wires and they all seem fine. could it be a relay or something? any help would be great

D16SiHatch

when it doesn't start is it not cranking, or is cranking and not starting.

if its not cranking at all, check the grounds and test the ignition switch and starter solenoid. if it's cranking and not starting then it could be your main fuel relay. keep an eye on when it happens and see if the fuel pump cycles. you should see a few lights come on in the gauge cluster and then shut off in about 2 seconds. during those 2 seconds you should also hear the fuel pump prime and then shut off.

EFRue57

i would suspect main relay as well. my last crx had this problem and after changing out the main relay, no problems. Not saying this is definitely the problem but it's an easy thing to check/fix.

grass

I will start fine sometimes then you turn it off try and restart it and it is like it has a dead battery. All the electronics seem ok it just won’t turn over at all. If I hookup jumper cables it will do the same thing if the car am using to jump it is not running.

D16SiHatch

if its not cranking at all then either the starter solenoid is on its way out, or the ignition switch is. turn the key to crank and while the car is throwing a fit, have a buddy hold a test light or multimeter to the starter signal wire. if it reads positive voltage, the switch is good and solenoid is bad. if no voltage is seen, then the ign switch is bad.

here's another way to test the switch as well

http://mycomputerninja.com/~jon/IgnitionSwitch.html