instructor74

93 civic bone stock no cut /hacked wiring harnesses 100% sure have owned the car since new. the problem happened tonight when leaving work. Got in the car and tried to start it, no luck. No dome light or dash lights. Grabbed the dmm and started running test 1st thought left the lights on... not the case. went right off the battery 12.5 volts checked all connections everything was tight and clean. Went in car started right up but all the clocks were reset as if the battery was disconnected. Anyone out there have any ideas or run into this before. I am thinking the battery might be going out like a bad cell but it is less then 6 months old and I cant see the alt causing the problem either. I changed all the grounds on the car with 8g wire about a year ago.

slowcivic2k

I've had this happen on numerous Honda Civics. The first time it happen was when I was driving to PA, 350 miles in, i stopped for gas. Got back in my car.... click.... Turned the key off, reinserted, nothing at all. I was dumbfounded for about 5 minutes. I got out and popped the hood, wiggled my positive terminal, and it ran fine after that. Then it happened again once I had arrived. This time, it was the starter solenoid BLK/YEL wire. Water got in the boot and corroded the connection. After that it never happened again. Had this happen on 3 different Civics.

My 1991 did it after I had aligned it XD. The starter positive boot was torn open, corroded. Cleaned it, never happened again.

And yes, all my clocks reset, lost all presets, and the CEL that I had cleared itself. (P0420)

instructor74

Thanks slowcivic2k. I can def can see there being a problem with the terminals but they are nice and tight. I can see a starter solenoid causing a no start but... a dead battery, I checked it out anyway no such luck. I haven't had a problem since last night and I really don't like when problems like this fix themselves it just like a train wreck looking for a place to happen. Anyone else with an idea?