My battery wasnt holding a charge for more than a couple hours so I took it in to Pep boys and had them test it. Sure enough, it tested as a bad battery. Its an optima red top that I bought 2 years ago so the replaced it under warranty. When I took the battery out , I also took off the all 3 ground wires so that I could clean the terminals to ensure they had a good connection. I put everything back together and went to crank the car and all I heard was a "click" from the starter. I figured that one of the grounds wasnt on right so I took them all off again, and put them all back on. Tried to crank it and got the same "click". I have a friend who Hydrolocked his motor and the sound from the starter reminded me of the sound that his car made so I tried to see if I could push start it. I rolled it down my street which is a hill, popped the clutch and she fired up. I pulled the car back into the driveway, shut it off and the tried to start it and got the same "click". I called the local shop and they said it was prob the starter, so I had a starter laying around and swapped it in and STILL got the same "click" when I went to start it.

What should I do next? How can I test the starters at home to make sure they are both good? What else should I do? Any <U>help</U> is appreciated.

 

mine did that. Turns out i forgot to plug the alternator back in. Fired it up and it worked like a charm

 

bad starter
solenoid sticking

 

are you battery terminals all tight? that can happen with loose terminals

 

hit starter with hammer a few times..could be binding..

 

if the starter is out of the car, you can jump the positive terminals and ground the starter to see if it works, or you can have a parts store test it

 

I just took the starter up to autozone to have them test it and everything came out ok. Im at a loss. I dont even know where to look next. I bought new battery terminal connectors in hopes that it might be them so Ill install those momentarily. Im also going to cut the ground and power wires so that I can strip down to new wire. Anyone have any other ideas?

 

^my car did that to me...replaced the terminals and BINGO

 

ts not a series of clicks, its just one click. I added new terminals, a new starter ground and had the starter tested. How do I test to see if the solenoid is shot? When I took the starter to autozone, the first time they tried to test it, it didnt do anything, failed. Next time, it passed, next time it failed, and then every time after that it passed. I just replaced the ends of the cables. I checked the wires and they are fine, no corrosion on the positive and there was a little on the neg but I cleaned it off. I was looking through the helms and in there they had a starter test. The say to connect a jumper wire from the solenoid terminal to the positive on the battery. I did that with the starter still installed and then uninstalled and all it did was click. I dont understand how it can test ok a couple times at autozone and then not work when I get home?

 

I just put a new starter in and its doing the same thing. Turn the key and all you get is "click". I just dont get it. If I push start the car, it turns over fine so I know its not the motor. What else should i check? What would prevent the starter from starting?

 

Just tested the continuity from the battery to the starter. The hot wire measured 8v when I tried to crank it. Whats my next move? The battery measures 12.30v

 

I also tested the positive wire running from the underhood fuse box to the positive battery terminal with a neutral ground and got a reading of 12.27v so I dont think that its the positive cable. I tested all of my grounds and the all come back fine. The only thing that doesnt check out is the 8v reading off of the positive wire that goes into the starter solenoid.

 

Same thing happened when I installed my intake. I had the battery out for awhile and when I put it back in and tried to start my car, all I heard was one loud click. Try reseting your ECU by disconnecting your car battery and unplugging the connectors to your ECU for a few seconds, then hook everything back up and try again. Hope this helps.

 

Just tried doing that and it did nothing. Any other ideas?

 

parts can intermitently fail. i'd say starter is binding and maybe reacts with heat increases

 

Here are things that Ive tried and the results Ive gotten:

1. Tried to start with the headlights on- Headlights did not dim
2. Checked voltage of battery- 12.3v
3. Checked vlotage of battery under load- 11.9v
4. Checked voltage of power cable going from battery to underhood fuse box- 12.3v
5. Cleaned all grounds and connections down to bare metal- still just got a click sound
6. Bought a new starter- still just got a clicking sound.
7. Tried using a jumper wire (14 gauge) directly from the + batt. to the solenoid on both new and old starters- shaft pops out but does not spin the starter
8. Tried doing the above with new starter on another vehicle and got the same results.
9. Checked voltage from the solenoid terminal when under load- 8.3v
10. Push started the car and popped the clutch- Car started and ran perfectly.
11. Bought new terminal connectors- Click
12. Bought a new ground wire to go from battery ground to a starter bolt- Click
13. Stripped down all neg. and pos. wires and re-tightened connection on terminal connectors- Click
14. Checked starter fuses- all checked out ok.

 

Damn. That's quite a list man. How long did you leave your ECU disconnected? Try to leave it disconnected for like 3-5 minutes just to make sure all the power drains out of it.

 

12.3v is not fully charged buddy. your battery is at 60% charge. it should still be enough to start the car though. i would recommend throwing it on a charger overnight on a slow charge. a full charge is 12.6v

 

The thing that is really getting me is the 8v that the signal wire is getting at the solenoid. What could cause it to only be getting 8v when the battery has 12.3v? And why would the starter still not start after giving it direct power from the battery? When giving it power directly from the battery, the shaft will pop out but it will not spin. Ive checked and rechecked all of my grounds visually. How should test them with a multi meter?

 

try your old battery, you might have a failed battery

 

Ive tried to jump it off of another car and it still just clicks. By jumping it, even if it was a bad battery, wouldnt the other car give it enough juice to start?

 

those optima batteries take FOREVER to charge because they are deep cell or whatever, so getting jump would take an eternity

 

Your all gonna love this one:

Took it in to Honda. 6 hrs later they called me up literally laughing. Apparently when I took the wires off to clean the ends and swap terminal connectors, I took the starter power wire and attatched it to the negative terminal instead of the positive.

Cost of a new starter: $109
Cost of new terminal connectors: $6
Cost of new ground and power wires: $27

Letting Honda tell you you made a newbie mistake: Priceless....................well not exactly ($92)
DrImodium is online now Report Post Edit/Delete Message

 

That's awesome. I've done some dumb ****, but I might never have posted this one!

Maybe this'll make you feel better.


http://www.we-todd-did-racing....T.JPG
http://www.we-todd-did-racing....S.JPG

 

on a related note-

I am priming my fresh motor, and my starter for my 95 gsr cranks for maybe 3 seconds, and the hiccups and stops. It has a very solid cranking sound, then dies off around the 5 or 7 second mark.

Any advice? Here is the whole thread if you wanna check it out

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=2025870