whitediamond642

Here's what I've got. 1993 LX 5 speed. The car started and ran fine before I started working on it.

Since getting it into my garage I have replaced the valve cover and spark plug tube seals, replaced the front brakes, spark plugs, and replaced the dizzy oil seal. I've also completely stripped the interior to clean it up (previous owner left a window open on it all through the winter and there was mold everywhere).

Today I replaced the battery with a new one since the old one wouldn't hold a charge.

I go to start it up (using a bucket as a seat). The main relay sputters along with the cel and battery lights flickering. I hear the fuel pump prime, but it's weak. I turn the switch to crank and the lights dim and there's nothing but a click.

I tested for voltage at the starter, which was getting around 9 volts, so I don't think it's the ignition switch. I've double checked all the connections at the dizzy from when I removed it. I've retested the battery and it has 12.5 volts and is brand new, so I don't think that's it.

Am I dealing with two culprits here? Main relay and starter?

The main relay stutter makes me lean toward it, but I would think that even with the main relay not working I would get it to crank. I'll probably take the starter off to have it tested. As for the main relay, I can grab the one out of my other accord to see if that's it, but any suggestions as to where else to start looking would be great.

Thanks in advance for everyone's help.

davey5300

if it's not cranking then I'd first have the starter tested.
also did you touch the clutch pedal by any chance? Because maybe you forgot to attach the neutral safety switch.

whitediamond642

I did take out the clutch safety switch to test it and see if it was stuck open, but it tested fine. I put it back in and made sure to plug it in. Same no crank scenario.

I agree that I think it might be the starter, but the main relay, issue is bugging me. Maybe I'm just that unlucky, but two previously working items going wrong at the same time makes me think there might be something else afoot.

Thanks for the input. I just got the main relay out and am now going to swap them to see if that's it. The starter is the next thing.

whitediamond642

Confirmed, main relay is not the culprit.

I took the possibly bad relay out of the 93 and plugged it into my 94. Started right up, so I don't think the relay is the issue.

The starter is the next step. If anyone has any other suggestions, I'm all ears.

whitediamond642

Starter tested okay at OReilly's, though it came with the typical "test conditions don't simulate the load of a flywheel" disclaimer.

I'm officially out of ideas. Perhaps the starter is bad despite the test, but I don't want to go throwing money at the car when it might not fix the issue.

I'm also still confused about the main relay sputtering and the lights dimming when I try to start the car and they slowly brighten back up.

Does anyone else have any ideas?

whitediamond642

Got the problem fixed. I wouldn't say solved because all I did was take off the starter solenoid and clean it a bit, then put it back together, put the starter on the car and it started right up.

There was no more sutter on the main relay or anything. I wish I could say I did something else, but that was it.

Something tells me this problem might creep back up down the road, but until then, looks like I've got it running.

Thanks for everyone who read this. Let me know if anyone has any other ideas for what it could be for the future problems.

fleetw00d

Under what conditions (key in ignition at 'start' position?) and exactly where did you measure the 9 volts at the starter? May have had a bad connection at or in the solenoid that you managed to clean up. Depending on how you checked the voltage originally, check it again and see if you get closer to battery voltage.

Targa250R

Bad ignition switch contact assembly, loose ground terminal, or poor battery terminal connection.

A main relay will never cause a no-crank condition. The relay was clicking because its power supply was intermittent.

A bad starter will either give a "click" or no noise at all when the key is turned to position III ("start"), but it will not cause a power cut to the main relay or dash lights when the key is in position II ("on").

Atlantawino

I have a 1993 Accord 5-Speed. I ran into a similar problem and thought I would throw this out there for anyone reading through. The car would start every time, right away. Once in awhile, in hot weather I would get the crank but no start. This (in my case) indicates that I am going to have to replace the main relay soon. A hard thump on the dash to the left of the steering wheel in this situation jars the relay and makes the connection for the start to occur again right away.

But, what if it won't crank at all?! Turn the key, dash lights up, and then go to start...one click from the relay in the dash and nothing. This happened one night to me after work. Turned the key, click...nothing. Headlights didn't dim so I knew no juice was being drawn by the starter. Luckily I was on an incline and could roll backward, pop the clutch in reverse, and start it up, which it did right away (telling me it wasn't a fuel issue).

Most would suspect the battery connection, starter solenoid, or the starter itself, all of which could be the issue. However, the easiest item to check first is the neutral safety switch on the clutch pedal. When the clutch is engaged, a little rubber plug on the peddle pushes in a switch allowing the engine to start. (There is a similar switch for the cruise control so that when the cruise is on and you press the clutch, the cruise disengages and a similar switch on the brake pedal so that when you release the brakes the brake lights turn off.) The neutral safety switch itself could be absolutely fine, but without the little rubber stopper on the peddle, the switch trigger goes right through a hole in the pedal and does not engage.

What I am saying is, if your car just clicks when you go to start it, make sure that the old rubber stopper has not crumbled out of the peddle. On the older Accords this happens after time. Check your floorboards for what looks like little bits of broken blue crayon. For me, I had replaced the one on the brake pedal and the lower one on the clutch pedal for the cruise control (because they are super easy to reach) but never the upper one on the clutch pedal which is for the neutral safety switch. With a flashlight, you should be able to see if it is still there. When I checked mine (after I had checked the battery and the starter to find they were both fine), sure enough, it had crumbled away. The neutral safety switch was going right through a hole in the clutch pedal. The little rubber plug was like $3 at the Honda shop. You have to take the clutch pedal off of it's mount to reach and replace this upper one, which is a pain but can be done by most anyone.

When a car has been working great for 250k and suddenly does something like not crank out of the blue, sometimes the simplest solution is the best.

Mike dx civic94

Thanks reading this help me find my fck up neutral safety switch

Jon Campbell

Good reply Sir! I was having a no crank issue. Checked the basics and then went to the web. Damn that blue crayon! There it was sitting in my floor board. Saved me a lot of troubleshooting. Thanks!