b16_madman

Background: crx si 89 model, mostly untouched sans suspension, some audio, hid's etc.
Scene: Couple days ago I left my house with a 12 gallon tank with only a gallon in it. Drove real close up to a gas station and filled up. Hop back in the car to turn it on and nothin happens. Ok, so dead battery right? Nope. Tried to jump it, not helping.
We successfully push start it and off I go-- on a 7 hr road trip.
Drives fine, a/c fun etc.
Anyway, it's my last semester- i'm busy but I gotta fix my car. So I take today to tackle the issue at hand.

1) are all the wires tight? sure thing, spot on a-ok pwr/grnd etc all good
2) does the starter work with direct pwr? sure does, turned it on just fine
( by using a wire straight to the +12 on the battery via solenoid pin on the starter (where the female blade connector hooks up) )
But I don't want to have to do that everytime I drive around, so onto the next hurdle.
3) does the ignition switch work? well- it passed all of the continuity tests in the honda crx manual that's all over the net. it zero'd out on each respective terminal in all positions of the swtich 0 I II III positions.

I decided to call it a day after that so what does anyone think is the next point to look at?

Starter relay, where is it? Built into the starter, main relay or what?

Everything else works like a top on it, stereo shows nothin funny going on, like pwr cuttin off/on etc
(that happened on my hatch when the ign. switch went bad, the stereo wouldn't stay on sometimes)

anyway, TIA

Boosted Chemist

iTrader: (1)

My car had a similar issue, all of a sudden it wouldnt crank, turned out the clutch switch wasnt making contact with the pedal (ie it though the clutch wasnt depressed)
IF it was a main relay, you wouldnt hear the pump go on. Do you hear the fuel pump? Though i think the starter has nothing to do with the mainrelay ( i have to dig through some helms first to be certain)

fourthgenhatchB17

My car had the same problem a few years back. You turn the key and get nothing. I did the exact same tests you did and all showed everything was fine. I was gettin sick of the problem so i went to honda and bought a new ignition switch (even though it checked out OK) and everything has been fine since. I would say find someone with a known good working ignition switch and try theirs. They're easy to swap out..maybe 10 minutes?

Also, i almost thought it was a ground problem, but since u said u jumped the starter directly from the battery and it worked, one wouldnt think it was a ground issue. Just in case though, make sure your ground from the tranny to frame is in good condition. Clean the mounting surfaces on both ends of the wire. Good grounds never hurt.

b16_madman

True true. I've swapped out ign. switches before too. Pretty easy, but they are about $70 if I'm not mistaken right?

fourthgenhatchB17

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b16_madman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">True true. I've swapped out ign. switches before too. Pretty easy, but they are about $70 if I'm not mistaken right? </TD></TR></TABLE>

I wanna say i paid $90 at the dealer by me but they had it instock so no waiting. Majestic probably has it for a ton cheaper but of course, u have to wait for shipping.

b16_madman

hotwiring's fun... i can wait

civictrix

I would check the clutch switch, thats an easy fix because you can just splice the wires together if the switch is bad. Also you can check the starter relay, I believe it is located to the right of the heater unit. You may also want to check the fuse for your starter solenoid/ignition signal. (fuse No. 2 in the underdash fusebox). You can also check fuse no. 32 in the engine fuse box. That is for the ignition switch power source.

b16_madman

will tripple check under the hood for the fuses & man i can't go huntin for relays b/c i didn't see anything on the starter relay in the manual!

thanks though man appreciate it, oh so for the clutch switch u just loop the wiring cool, now if i can only reach it my 88 didnt have one so this 89 aggrivates me

Skipper75

did you figure this problem out dude?

i have the same problem at the moment

b16_madman

Resolved:

Nothing was wrong with the igntion switch. There is a small rubber pad that sits on the clutch pedal that is supposed to hit the clutch switch.
I cut up a wine cork to fit the pedal's hole and that fixed the problem. Funny fix eh?