tamadrummer1120

1995 Accord Ex Auto.

Ok, so last tues-saturday it rained terrible in the northeast. Well friday it was still raining, and I went to go start the car in the morning, rotated to the first click and waited for the fuel pump prime (i always do that if it is cold to try and reduce extended cranking and all during the cold), rotated it to the crank position, and nothing, no sounds (clicking or cranking or anything), I immediately rotated back, and tried again, fired right up, no big deal.

So this morning, it was not even that cold, maybe 55 or so. Same thing, rotated one click and waited for fuel pump, then rotated forward. Nothing. So I kept rotating forward and still, same thing. I did it about 10 times will jiggling the keys to see if maybe it could be the ignition. So I popped the hood, checked the battery terminals (battery is less than a year old), and I checked the under hood fuses with a quick glance, shut the hood, got back in, and rotated and bam, started right up, no hesitation or anything.

Anybody have any ideas?
All I can think of is either the starter, ignition, the neutral safety switch, or the main relay.

TIA guys.

tamadrummer1120

bump. anybody?

extralargenog

iTrader: (1)

main relay

tamadrummer1120

from what i heard the main relay has to do with a no spark issue, not a cranking issue. mine was not cranking at all. and a hot temperature outside, it is cold here in md, well not like frigid, but the 50's in the morning.

extralargenog

iTrader: (1)

ah my bad.

tamadrummer1120

sound like a starter then? i am pretty sure the elec. accesories that come on during the last key rotation (when cranking would occur) did come on, which would rule out the ignition.

guess i will have to wait until it happens again.

davey5300

Wow I went through hours of pain today, and missed all my classes because of the same problem. Crank the key, fuel pump does its thing, and nothing. Changed the ground wire, checked the safety switch, and even got a new starter. Nothing. Tomorrow I'm changing the ignition switch, so I'd say look into that.

tamadrummer1120

well, it was weird, my accessories were on even i was holding the key all the way rotated, so i am pretty sure i am good for ignition, but once again, i need to check again, next time it happens.

redbull-1

I used to have a 1995 Accord EX with auto, it had over 280,000 miles before I gave it away to a relative. The only ignition related item that ever went out on me was the starter around the 5th year I had it. I had the original starter rebuilt, and it last more than 10 years and still going. Well, the ignition key cylinder froze; but that wasn't because of the ignition switch (I had to replace the ignition key cylinder).

But, every car may have their own unique problems.

78CITYTURBO

I'm having the same issue with my '98 Accord EX right now. I would have to try to crank it close to 10 times before it start up.

tamadrummer1120

see, for mine, when it does act up like the described above, it wont even crank. after it acted up today that one time, all the other times it fired right up. pretty sure the contacts inside the starter are done for me. i will just buy a new starter after i kill the idea that it is the ignition switch once it happens again.

redbull-1

Some of the 98 Accords had problems with the ignition switch. There was a recall before due to it.

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/accord/x02-031e.pdf

davey5300

I'd have the starter tested before you buy one.

tamadrummer1120

the new one or old one?

i mean, ignition i guess should be ruled as once it decided to crank it fired right up, no extended cranking whatsoever. and the fuel pump did prime and everything. sorta rules out ignition and main relay.

davey5300

The old one. Went through a similar problem with my dad's 92 lx and bought a new starter and when we fixed the problem, it turned out we didn't even need a new starter, but it was too late.

When I change out the switch tomorrow I'll let you know the outcome.

tamadrummer1120

our ra1 ody was doing the same as my car, and it was the starter, so haha, we shall see.

brakedrum

Next time it happens, give the starter a good whack with a hammer (it won't hurt it) and then try turning the key. If it cranks and starts right afterwards, you know you have a bad starter. That's how I diagnosed the same problem a few years ago. In fact, I used the hammer method for about 2 weeks until I could get the new starter from ebay and get under the hood to install it.

cstone

when i had a similar problem with my 87 dodge ram 50 (i know its a completely different vehicle but this could be relevant) all of my accessories would turn off while i was trying to crank. all other symptoms were the same. i would watch carefully next time it happens. i think the reason behind this is that the starter will short out when it starts going out.

tamadrummer1120

yeah i know, i was panning on doing that, but it has yet to do it again.

and yeah cstone, the contacts inside the starter are worn and not making good contact when the starter is going out like mine sounds like it is, but it still could be ignition switch.

brakedrum

It will only come to rest on that flat spot from time to time. Like when you are all dressed up headed to a wedding or you go to fire it up to get lined up for a funeral procession or you have that interview in 20 minutes a 15 minute drive away. As it gets worse it will happen almost every time. After a couple of weeks of using the hammer start, mine had gotten so bad that I felt like drilling a hole in the hammer and attaching it to my keychain. Fortunately I got out there on that third Saturday and put the new starter in. As I recall, the bolts on the factory starter were so tight I ended up using a breaker bar to free one of them. That bolt was the biggest challenge. You know, it wouldn't hurt to inspect that large cable that runs from the negative batt and grounds to the car chassis. Those can also get old and corroded and cause problems. Probably not on yours, though, b/c you still have all you dash lights, radio etc. when it won't turn over.

tamadrummer1120

yeah dude, i have not gotten to the hammer method yet..........YET.

thats how i am going to test it when it happens next.

frodosdojo

There are others with maybe a similar problem. My mechanic says it was the ignition coil - I have a 93 accord. Here is the thread if you want to check it out :

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-accord-1990-2002-2/help-96-accord-wont-start-2678168/

brakedrum

frodosdojo, was the mechanic who finally pointed to the coil as the culprit the same mechanic who put all those other new parts on while trying to solve your problem?

Rickdogg

my moms accord just did the same thing last night at 4am in the morning how hard is it to replace the ignition switch?

frodosdojo

No, he only replaced parts I knew were busted like the distrubutor & fuel pump. There were three other "mechanics" involved:

1. replaced main relay
2. replaced ignition switch
3. replaced fuel pump
4. replaced the fuel pump from #3 & fuel lines, plus the distributor which was already messed up from #3 trying to replace ignition control module. then replaced ignition coil.

The car is running fabulous, by the way. I drove it for the past few hours and made several stops. If it messes up I will definitely let yall know, but it's worth checking out the ignition coil, if you can instead of replacing all the other parts like I did.