Hi guys. I have a 2001 SE 5 speed manual stock prelude and it will not start sometimes when it is hot outside. The problem is 100% electrical and I know there are many prelude owners that had this issue, but I dont know what is causing it. This car is 100% stock with no car starter, nothing at all. The car has only 35k miles on it. I have taken it to the dealer and they are dumb as hell. When I turn the key all the lights come on but there is no turn over at all, no starter, nothing. This ONLY happens when the weather is hot. I live in Canada so you can imagine that it is not really hot here during the summers, maybe 70-90F most of the summer time. It does not matter if I ran the car hard or had it sit all night and try to start it in hot weather, it just wont start. There is some problem that is stoping the signal from reaching the starter, but I have no clue what it is. The car throws no codes and runs 100% otherwise. If I sit there and try to start it for 15 minutes or so, finally the signal will go through and it will start. Please help me out guys, because I am going to go nuts this summer if this keeps on happening. Thanks a ton.

 

- try a different battery if possible, maybe it just messes up in hot weather or something (**** iono)
- try connecting the battery directly to the starter to see if it turns over to see if the problem is your starter.
- get a multimeter and make sure you have continuity from where you turn the key all the way to the starter. Check for shorts or opens.

 

Its probably your main relay under the dash. Ill look to see if I can find a link to it.

 

it's the main relay. had the Same Exact problem. really easy fix, just semi-expensive.

 

Thx for the replies. Is there any way that I can make sure that it is the main relay before I go buying any parts. What should I be buying to replace it? Should I just buy the main relay, or are there other things I need to replace as well?

 

Hi guys. I just checked my warranty booklet and I am still covered under the 5year/10000km warranty for EFI main relay. Is that the part that needs to be replaced? If it is then how can I prove that this is the faulty part to the dealer. I know that they are going to start giving me the run around and I am not a technician so I cant contradict their lies with anything decent. I went there before about problems and they just BS because I cant prove that its the part 100%. They also need to "reproduce" the problem before they can fix it. This is one problem that sometimes just can not be reproduced so I need a sure fire way to prove it to them.

 

main relay is shot

 

what sucks about warranties is that in order for the warranty to cover the part, the dealership will have to test the part to make sure that its the problem. If they test your main relay and its not the problem they will charge you $XX/hr or their flat fee for diagnostic testing.

 

Thx for all the replies, but I need to know how I can test this myself to find out if it is the problem. I would like to know that its the relay 100% before going there and having them check it out. Please let me know.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PrettyLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">main relay is shot</TD></TR></TABLE>

that's usually the case when the weather is hot.

I believe the engine will still crank even if the Main Relay is bad though,
it just wont turn over.

I would start be cleaning the battery terminals,
making sure you have a tight connection as well.

Will it turn over if you jump it?

Also, make sure all of your grounds are securely connected as well.

 

The battery terminals are in 100%. There is no point in boosting it because the batter is in perfect condition and works excellent. The car is pretty new so everything is functioning well and it is serviced regularly. The only problem is not starting in hot weather sometimes. There is no engine activity at all, from what I can tell. It is as if I didnt even put the key into the ingnition. All the lights come on and I think I heard the fuel pump prime, but there is no starter activity and no engine activity. Let me know guys what else it can be, or how to test the main relay. Thx a lot.

 

my .02 is to just buy the damn part, screw the dealership, and if it doesnt fix the problem, return it.

Warranties dont mean much these days.

 

The problem lies in me not knowing how to install this thing and where it is even located. I also would like to test it if I could. Still looking for help with this. Thx a lot guys.

 

its underneath the dash on the driver side held on by two gold 10mm bolts

get a helms manual to test it, it will tell you where to check for continuity and resitance

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by revlimitx04 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my .02 is to just buy the damn part, screw the dealership, and if it doesnt fix the problem, return it.

Warranties dont mean much these days.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You can't return electrical parts such as relays to dealerships,
they won't accept them if they have been used.

I still don't think that's the problem though

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SKDRCR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
that's usually the case when the weather is hot.
I believe the engine will still crank even if the Main Relay is bad though,
it just wont turn over.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

My symptoms with a faulty relay were exactly like his... the car would not start or crank at all - it just clicked, and the lights came on.
I've never heard it go out so soon though - I mean, my car is a '92.

Vadrad, do a search here on "main relay" to get an idea where to locate it, buy it, repair it, etc. Also, you can get some compressed air, and cool off the relay when the car doesn't start. That's a good test. I think the heat usually causes the solder joints on the relay to expand, crack and lose contact.

 

The car will crank over if the main relay is bad. I am almost certain you have a problem with your ignition switch. It was a recall for the 5th gen preludes.

 

I am not sure if this is correct, but wasnt the ignition recall for cars earlier than 2001. I thought it was for 97-99 preludes, but I am not sure. So I am sitting with two possible problems, the main relay or the ignition switch. Wouldnt the car have problems starting at other times if it was the ignition switch? It only has issues when its hot. I understand that the hot weather causes issues in the solder on main relay and can cause this problem. The thing is I dont have any turn over at all from the engine, so can it still be the relay? Looking for some more insight into this. Thx a lot guys.

 

Hey guys. I did a bit more research and I saw that there were recalls for 97-00 Preludes, but not the 01 with regards to the ignition switch. I also read all the problems that you should be experiancing if its that switch and I dont have any of those. I am leaning on it being a faulty relay, but how should I prove to the dealer that its the relay? Thx guys.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vadrad &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I am leaning on it being a faulty relay, but how should I prove to the dealer that its the relay? Thx guys.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You have to prove it to yourself first. It's easy to see if the compressed air works, and it's easy to resolder the relay, too. There's continuity checks you could do on the relay to test it.
If it's not really the relay at fault, then you won't be able to prove anything.

 

the car is not still under warranty fully? if it is then its their responsibility to fix the damn thing. this is why I have never bought a new car.

 

Full warranty is only for the first 3years/60000km . The car is 4 years old, so no full warranty.

 

I agree, I registered my car with honda online, and boom, recall for the ignition switch. Mine was weird and very intermitant. Maybe once every 3 months. I think the part price is 200$ or so, some 5th gen vin's are not covered.

 

How do I register with Honda Online? Let me know please. Last time I checked you can get a new EFI relay from ebay for 40 dollars. Does that sound correct to you guys? I really doubt its the ignition switch.