I have a 97 Accord with 160,000 miles on it. Yesterday I replaced the stock radio with a new CD player. It was a fairly easy procedure, with no real problems, and it works fine. Today, when I tried to go to work, the car wouldn't start. It wont turn over at all. I get the clicks when I turn the key that sound like the main relay is working. The ignition was replaced durring the recall. The battery seems fine, and it was all working until I took the dash apart to put in the new cd player. I've taken the cd player back out now, but the car still doesn't start. Maybe related: the automatic door locks go on and off about ten times about half of the times that I lock the door from the outside - so there's some type of electical issue, but probably related to the locks only. Any help from this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

Turaco

 

bump for this guy......

 

have you tried to jump it off? just curious if the battery is dead

 

just a thought, have you taken a look at your fuses, or your wiring? Also you could have a faulty wire going from your cd player to the battery that is causing a short somewhere in your mnifold/dash. Just a thought good luck.

 

hmmm...for christmas i bought my mom an auto start for her CRV and she says the same thing happens with the clicking after locking but i dont thing her battery has ever went dead from it...i told her to take it in and get it checked out and i dont know if she did or not??? i doubt it would drain your battery from hooking up your stereo....unless you wired it all crazy or cut wires you shouldnt have????

 

get a new battery.. even though the deck works.. the battery could and probally is still dead and doesnt have enough power to start the car under the emense load it takes.

try and new battery k

 

did it work????

 

Thanks for all the help. I haven't had the time to get to it yet (I borrowed a car to get to work today). I did check, and the negative battery cable looks in bad shape. I'm going to replace it tomorrow, and hope its that or the battery, which I'll jump if its not the cable.

Thanks again,
Turaco

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fishwgoose &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">just a thought, have you taken a look at your fuses, or your wiring? Also you could have a faulty wire going from your cd player to the battery that is causing a short somewhere in your mnifold/dash. Just a thought good luck.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Im thinking this is what it is...have your dashboard lights went out yo???

 

OK. Sorry I haven't updated in a couple of days. Ive replaced the negative battery cable, which looked a little worn out, and tried to jump it. No luck. Im lost now. I know it has to be the radio I installed, but I cant figure it out. Thanks though for all of the advice. Im going to keep trying.

-Turaco

 

Well I'm assuming you disconnected the battery when you installed the CD player?

I disconnected my battery and cleaned the terminals when I replaced my distributor on my 97 LX. After I had the new distributor installed and the battery reconnected the engine would crank but not bump over.

It took me a while, and my dad saying "What did you futz up by disconnecting the battery?" But I just hit the accelerator to WOT and the engine cranked right over. Honda experts can cut me down but I'd think that it's because the engine lost a MAP reading and didn't risk flooding or leaning the engine. At least that's what I'd think the problem was.

Just my $0.02.

Hopefully it'll help you out.

 

Ok-
Thanks again for the advice. I am, unfortunatly, still with a non-operable Accord in the driveway. I have replaced the negative battery cable, which was worn-didn't help. I have tested the battery, and it's holding a charge. When I turn the key, no power is being drawn from the battery - checked with a battery power gauge. I get some clicks, which I assume is the main relay switch. I've checked the fuses, both under the hood and at the drivers side near the foot rest. I am at a loss. Any more advice is much appreciated. I'm borrowing a car for another week, but I don't have the funds right now to take it in. Thanks again for all the help so far.

-Turaco

 

Alright - It's working again.

While looking again at the fuses by the drivers side footrest, I noticed a peculier little button sitting there under the dash. I pushed it a few times, put the key in the ignition, and it started right up. After some research, I now believe this it the 'valet' switch, and has something to do with an alarm system (which I don't have). I'm assuming that taking out the radio signaled that it was being stolen, and wouldn't let the car start. Seems like a pointless theft deterent system, as someone who steals a radio isn't probably going to then steal the whole car. And if they know anything about the cars they steal, they probably already know about this switch.

So it works - and I am happy - Thank you to everybody who responded to my question.

-TURACO

 

Thanks for the update. I'm about to replace my CD/Radio next week and this info would save me a bundle of headaches.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Turaco &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Alright -
Seems like a pointless theft deterent system, as someone who steals a radio isn't probably going to then steal the whole car. And if they know anything about the cars they steal, they probably already know about this switch.


-TURACO </TD></TR></TABLE>

well it certainly put your plans to a halt for a while didnt it tho?