Jacob Smith

Okay, I've searched around the sites and found nothing specific to this problem so I just registered and figured I'd explain my problem. I live in Louisiana where it is hot wet and humid. A little over a month ago I started noticing slow cranking at startup. Then my car just wanted to make this clicking sound when I tried to crank it. Over and over again... thought it was dead, but all the lights and radio worked so I popped the hood and cleaned the battery cables. To my surprise they were filled with corrosion, that was a first. So after cleaning the corrosion, it worked fine for a couple of days then all of a sudden I had to try several times to get it to start again one day. I brought it in to autozone and they said the battery was drained and I should try to charge it first to see if that solves the problem. I went to advance auto and they told me the battery was faulty and unable to hold a charge. I just bought a new one and everything was fine for about a month now.

I've been on the road a bunch and everything seemed fine no start up problems until a couple of days ago. It seems like my car sat there for about 24 hours or so under the carport where it usually is. I went to start it up, noticed all the dashboard lights come on like they should when I turned the key half way, heard the fuel pump do its thing like usual, turned the key all the way, and just a click. Tried it again from the second position, just a click. Click click click. Took the key out all the way, put it back in and it started up. Got to the end of the block and figured I'd try it again just to see and it took me like 7 tries and it started. Went out did my thing and got home without a problem that night. When I went to go to work the next morning same thing ... click click click then start. Then later that night it did it again but when it finally started you could hear the starter having trouble. So today I got out a voltage meter and checked it before I started it up, the battery had 12.26 from sitting over night. It started up fine, then with it running it read anywhere from 13.7 to 14.5 which I figure is fine for charging the battery... again, it's an brand new battery.

Then after I let it charge a while I cut it off and tested the voltage and it watched it go from 12.8 to 12.5 and stop around 12.3 ... So I took it to advance auto where I bought the "Gold" premium battery and asked them to check the starter and alternator, of course when I went there, it was giving me no problem... and the test showed up okay so the guy says. He told me there is an electrical leak somewhere in the system. I can't find any corrosion, but I think he may be right. So where can I look for an electrical leak?

I do know there has been an oil leak from the main gasket for a while, not too bad, a lot of the under side and other parts of the engine are soaked in oil. Could this be messing with a ground wire? Also I just have a multi meter with all kinds of dials on it and I'm not really sure how to check anything but the battery voltage with it. I have heard some stuff about the solenoid causing problems like this. Maybe it's just a short somewhere? I don't know. But I suspect maybe some ground wires are not touching or are corroded somewhere, I have the haynes manual but those instructions suck. Can anyone explain exactly where each ground could be? Maybe post some pictures? Links? Anything?

I hate bringing my car in to a shop cause they screw things up worse, so if anyone can help me figure this out please give me some detailed instructions.

1999 Manual Drive Honda Accord EX 4cyl Power window, ac, sunroof, leather interior, power driver seat, power lock/keyless entry/anti theft... if any of that matters

F20B_accord

hmm long to read lol but that happened to me, check for any broke grounds to the engine, me it was one from the vc to the body and also it could be your spark plugs, whats the condition of them?

Jacob Smith

Don't know about the spark plugs, never changed them. I've been having the car for a little over a year now. Looks like the previous owner kept up on the maintenance. But I don't see anything about the spark plugs in the receipts. Could they be causing a loss in voltage overnight from corrosion? Where are all the grounds? I'm gonna try to check it all today before work.

F20B_accord

no it wouldnt cause a leak, but you don't seem to have a problem with your battery? if its 12.3 volts thats good

Jacob Smith

Okay, so today I took off all the wires from the battery and grounds. There were a couple of questionable connections, but I really don't think that they were the problem. Everything was tight, just a little dirty. It is a 99 and this is almost 2011. I haven't put the wires back on just yet because I can easily get to the starter now. So in the morning I'm gonna get it off and go have it bench tested.

I heard that most places don't necessarily test the solenoid, just the starter motor. So how can I verify that they are testing the solenoid?

Also if that turns out to be the case and I have to get a new starter, I'm sure I can't get a new one around here and especially an OEM, just a refurbished one. So what amperage rating and other details should I look for?

By the way, thank you for the advice. I hope I can get this solved quick cause my car is out of commission and my mom happens to be in town for the next few days so I have a ride to work...after that if it's not fixed, I'm screwed.

Oh, as for the battery... I've heard that a normal full charge is 12.8 with nothing on some places and other places have said that 12 is full... some people say 12 is low for cranking... But whatever. The starter is my concern for the time being. If that's not it I'm gonna suspect some type of electrical component or control relay type thing that is over my head and at that point I'd rather just pay someone to figure it out. WIsh me luck.

Thanks again.

Duane_in_Japan

Click, click, click means the starter is not cranking and each click the battery is getting a little weaker, then it starts. That is not a bad battery, its a bad starter, get an OEM rebuild as a minimum or a new OEM prefered, not an aftermarket cheapy from AZ.

Next time have a friend ready with a heavy metal rod or a 3 pound hammer, give the key a turn, CLICK, and hold it in the start position, give the starter a wack, if it starts, get a starter, end of story. Hit the starter, not the solenoid, not too hard.

Jacob Smith

Well, I wound up just changing out the starter. Got one from Napa, couldn't find an OEM anywhere. I tried several places and I didn't wanna wait for mail order... couldn't wait really. But now my idle is weird. It starts up and revs around 1500 rpm for a while, drops below 500 then shoots back up and after driving around for a while winds up chilling around 600 or so, around where it's supposed to be but drops down to a point where the engine rumbles then shoots back to where it's supposed to be when sitting there every 20 seconds or so. I figure this is either the alternator or a computer thing that's going wrong now. It would make sense that it's the alternator because of the chain of things... battery, starter, etc.

Another thing I found is going on is the fact that there is oil in the spark plug reservoirs, not an extreme amount and only in two of them. I figure it's those o ring things or my head gasket so I'm just gonna get the kit. Any brand name suggestions? Or links to directions?

poorman212

Give the idle a bit of time. If you disconnected everything (power), the computer sometimes has to re-learn idle..forget the actual cycles and sorry don't have everything at home to look it up.

Duane_in_Japan

If you have a FITV it needs completely closed once it warms up, you can do it manually after its fully warmed up. If you remove the rubber inlet boot and look inside the inlet to the throttle body you will see one or two holes, after the engine warms up and the idle starts to surge, cover one hole at a time, if the idle calms down when one of the holes is covered, you found the problem. Where does that hole go, IACV or another idle controller sensor. You also could have a vacuum leak or the throttlebody is out of adjustment or too dirty, many things will cause an idle surge when warm. Its ultimetly caused by the wrong amount of air getting into the intake and the computer is killing the fuel injector when the idle is too high for sitting in park or neutral, its called fuel cut strategy.