Atrocy

Hey guys so not too long ago I purchased a bone stock 1990 Crx Si from the original owner. Car drove like a dream, fast forward a month or so I went to start it up after pumping gas and nothing. It would just click but it wouldn't even crank. Push started it and got it home. I ended up replacing the starter, battery, and had no luck. Still wouldn't even crank. Fast forward a few weeks and a mechanic comes down to check it out/test for power/test starter and he comes to the conclusion that it's this relay under the dash near the hood release. He says he can fix it temporarily until I get it running and jumps these two connections together as shown below.




The car starts up fine, without needing to push in the clutch to start it. However after a while of driving, if I turned the car off it wouldn't start anymore until it sat for a while then it would start right up again. I order the relay, wait for it to arrive, and I finally install the new relay and...CLICK. No start. I end up doing some more research and many people said it was the main relay and after a while it wouldn't start if the cabin temperature got too hot..? Anyways I end up ordering a main relay now, throw it on there, car starts up (still without the other relay, still using the little jumper wire). So I throw on the other relay and nothing, CLICK. I figure eh what the heck I'll drive it around without the other relay and see if it starts up fine later on, so I take out that little relay and hook up the little wire and it starts right up. I drove it around and it was fine that day. The next day it started up fine again until I got to the gas station....CLICK. So it wasn't the main relay either. Now I'm out of ideas of what it could be, and why the car won't start with the relay in. I really love the car and need it for daily use but this problem is just dragging on and on and nothing seems to fix it...

1. The car will not start with the relay in, only with the jumper wire.
2. If driven around with the jumper wire, after a while, if you turn the car off, it won't start back up unless it sits for a while.
3. The car will not start with jumper cables, will only start by push starting it.
4. New starter, battery, main relay, other relay bolted next to hood release.

Any ideas guys? Much appreciated.

24TEN

iTrader: (2)

Resolder the joints on the relay, even if it's new. If it's new from back when the car was new it's possible that it has developed microscopic fractures in the solder joints even if it's never been used. Heck do it to your original relays too. Costs next to nothing to do.

matt965

I'm leaning towards bad connections somewhere. It could be your battery cable to the starter or it could be a problem with the mating surface between the starter and the transmission (this is ground for the starter).
This also may be of interest: https://honda-tech.com/forums/acura-...tools-3043958/ (applies to integra, but I think it applies here too)

Atrocy

Bump for more suggestions.

Dave K.

I agree with checking all connections again. I did the exact fix mentioned with the fuel pump relay years back on my 89 Civic Si and it's never had a problem since. That being said my problem was that it would crank and crank and not start--on hot days especially.

​​​​​​​if it won't even crank sometimes you have other issues I think.