ok, hopefully someone has got to know what is causing this, but ................ car is 90 CRX SI, car runs fine, but last several months i had intermittent start problems, so i knew my starter was going bad cause sometimes it would take 7 or more times turning the key to make it start, or i would hit the starter with a hammer and then it worked, but i was never stranded and it always eventually started.

i got a starter from autozone and installed it correctly with new battery and afterwards it started the first time i tried, then later that same day it would not start and only made a clicking sound even after trying a couple times.

so, i took that starter out next day assuming it was a bad rebuild and took back to autozone, they tested it twice and it tested as good, but i had a bad feeling about it so i just asked to get my money back, and i just went down the street and got a starter from O'Reilly's instead and asked to get tested before taking it home, which tested good.

next day, i cleaned up the mating surface where the starter grounds to beforehand, then i checked the battery 60amp fuse under the hood and looked good, i put the O'Reilly's starter in and tightened it up along with making sure the battery clamps were tight and clean.

then comes the WEIRD PART ????, i first put the positive clamp on the battery, and lastly i went to put the negative battery clamp on and it INSTANTLY MADE THE STARTER MOTOR ROTATE ???!!! so i quickly backed up and took the negative clamp back off right away in confusion, it sounded just like a whir of a power tool type of sound when you touch the negative on the negative terminal, i tried again and it did same thing.

i called the tech line that came with the starter warranty and i explained exactly how i had everything hooked while i was looking at the car and he said i had everything hooked up perfectly, he did'nt know what was causing the starter to activate when i hook up the battery, but he said i could possibly have a bad ignition switch??

can anyone please help guide me to find why it is doing this? one thing that puzzles me is that when i put the first starter from autozone in that it did not do any of this when i hooked the battery up, with the autozone one it just clicked when i tried to start it but it did'nt rotate the starter motor at all when hooking battery up or anything of that nature????

i am in Austin visiting my parents and i just want to get back to Dallas cause this problem has wasted couple days cause i should of left last Thursday and its already Tuesday.

any guidance or thoughts or tips would be awesome, thanks

 

i would laugh if it was your rad fan that kicked on! lol

get a voltmeter and test the current to the starter and ground it on the engine and see what it reads with no keys in the ignition... then try with keys it, different positions...

track it down

 

i think tomorrow i am going to try putting my original starter back in and see what it does, i was meaning to take my original starter back to the auto store to give as a core but i have'nt yet just cause i wanted to wait take it to them only after i make sure that i can even get the new one i got to work in the car.

just to point out, the only problem i had before was that my starter was going out and my car still started but sometimes it took several tries of turning the key to get it to start but it always started, so this is why i took that starter out and went through all this hell with these buying these new ones (well, rebuilt) and going through all this stuff, ......now that i think about it, i might just stick the original back in and hopefully get my car started with that one, get money back for starter i got at store and just get on my way back home to Dallas, cause this is already getting old and i just want to get home, tired of being stuck here, lol

i would rather continue the problem in Dallas back home, my tools are there, and a friend who knows a lot who can help figure this out is there. could'nt i just push start it also??? to get back on the road?

 

I saw this same exact problem on a friends miata a couple of years ago. For the life of me I cant remember what it was, but I think it was either the wiring or a fuse... we went through three starters too.

GL!

 

I had this same problem on my crx not too long ago. Although I don't think you have the same problem as me. It would do what yours is doing. The ignition seemed to be getting stuck. For a while it would be stuck in the off mode so I couldn't start the car.(the key still turned to the on position) and then it would get stuck to start mode as if someone were holding the key in the cranking position while I connected the battery but the key wasnt even in the ignition. Long story short I had chorted my underdash fuse box out with the wire from my power windows. I used the black/yellow wire from the ignition for the power source for the power windows, but instead of splicing into the wire I just stuck the wire for the window into the plug sort of like a short cut and that shorted the box out. I replaced the fusebox and it fixed the problem. Anyway, I doubt this will help you but maybe point you in the right direction? You may have a faulty ignition switch

 

thanks for the replies, i am not sure what country you are from but i don't have the power windows, but the bottom line is that i already confirmed my connections to my starter are correct, and i checked the 60amp battery fuse in underhood compartment and is good, my battery is new as a couple days ago, and battery cables are corrosion free and connected correctly and tight, and the only part that is puzzling to me is when i go and hook my battery back up that the starter motor is already in the ON position and is turning, and it only stops when i unhook my negative battery clamp ????????????? there is no key involved in this scenario i'm telling you, nobody is pressing clutch and key is'nt in ignition or anything like that.
this is so damn strange , what does the starter relay do ??? thats one thing i'm unsure about.

there is one detail i have to meniton, cause it said to match up the starter you buy with your original, and i noticed the terminal where the + pos. battery wire goes to on the new starter was in the front of the starter on the one i bought, but my original starter had that terminal placed on the side location, would this matter that it does'nt appear exactly the same or not??? otherwise the number of teeth on the end of the starter are exactly the same, the spade connector matches up as well as the mount holes, so it might be slightly different in shape but as far as it mating up and fitting in the car, it fits fine.

anyone have any other ideas what this can be ??? thanks