Recently my 92 Civic DX hatch has been having some trouble starting. It doesn't happen often just randomly every once in a while. When I try to start the car and I turn the key to "start" the engine seems to start, but when I turn the key back to "on" the engine dies. It does this a couple times then sometimes it just sits there and cranks, but never starts. It sorta reminds me of how my car would act if my car had no gas. Eventually if I just keep trying or let it sit for a second it starts up fine, and once it's started I have no trouble with it at all.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? I've thought about taking my car into the shop for a tune-up, see if they could fix it. The only problem is that a tune-up usually costs around $400, so if anyone has any idea how I can fix this on my own that would be great. Thanks guys...

 

2 possiblities:

Either the electrical portion of your ignition switch is going bad.

OR

The main relay/fuel pump relay is going bad.

If you say the car won't stay cranked once you back off of the "start" position that would lead me top believe possibility number one.

If the switch ever goes bad for good, you can drive the car by starting it, then backing off the "start" position, and then turning it back to the "start" position and holding it there.

With a manual tranny that's nearly impossible to hold the key "on"
while you drive.

I still think it could be number 2 though since you said it will turn over but not crank - the main relay cuts the fuel pump on and if the fuel pump isn't on, the car won't start.

Main relay sits under the dash on the driver's side near your hood release lever. It's a brown plastic thingy encased by a grey plastic cover and it should be held in with 2 10mm bolts.

Good luck!

More details might help me narrow it down y0!

 

EXACT same thing happened to mine. This would happen maybe once every 2 weeks or so. I would let it sit for a bit maybe half hour or so and it would start right up without problems. It hasnt happened in a while now though.

 

One reason why I'm a little worried, is because this all started right after I did a couple DIY electrical mods. First I did the whole bright corners mod, the one where you use one of those boxes made to combine trailer brake and tail lights to combine the parking and turn signal lights. I also made my own headlight warning beeper by following the instructions on civic.vtec.net. I'm fairly sure I didn't mess with anything that wasn't in the instructions for either, I have some experience with electrical wiring so I figured I could do it on my own. When I did the bright corners mod all I did was splice the parking and turn lights together through the box I bought, and the headlight beeper only required me to get a relay and wire it to some wires under the dash. I knew what I was doing with the bright corners, but the beeper I just following the instructions exactly cause I don't know much about car electrical systems. Could either of those cause what I'm describing?

Also, I'm not sure if I was using the correct terms when I was describing what happened when I tried to start my car. When I said it would just sit there and crank I meant it would just sit there and make the noise it makes when you hold the key in the "start" position. Not the grinding noise it makes if you turn it there after the car is already started, but the sound it makes while it's starting the car. And I'm not sure whether or not the car would stay started if I held the key in the "start" position rather then turning it back to "on" or not. It could just be starting for a second and dying, and just so happens to coincide with when I turn the key back to "on". Thanks for the help so far, hopefully we'll be able to figure this out.

P.S. Sorry for the long posts, I'm just trying to get as many details out there as I can.

 

One other thing I should note, is that it also started right after I filled up my gas tank. The only reason I remember this is because for the past couple years I've been putting the lowest octane gas in my car offered, just because I'm a poor college student. But this time my mom was with me and offered to pay for gas so I put in Sunoco 94 octane gas thinking it would be better for my car. The problems started the next day. Also, I got my oil changed that day as well, and the guy at Valvoline talked me into putting in some of their fuel treatment stuff that they pour into the gas tank. Could any of those have any effect?

 

bump to the top

 

to the top...

 

This is happening on my '92 hatch also. It started about two months ago, it started, spurtered, and died. Would not start after that, waiting a bit and it started right up. Last week it did it again, let it sit awhile and it started right up. Last weekend it did it again, then diagnosed it to be that the fuel pump would not come on. It would come on initially, then kick off, like it is supposed to do. But after starting the engine it did not come on again. Problem solved, so I thought, replaced the fuel pump with a 5.0 mustang pump for more flow. Worked until yesterday, same problem, now it must be the fuel relay. The relay is a dealer part, so I did not replace it. Searching the internet this morning found this link....
http://www.markl.f9.co.uk/howto/elec...main-relay.htm

Read somewhere else that this seems to be a somewhat common problem, extreme heat or cold makes it occur more actively, which would explain why it has happened the last couple times on my car. Hope this helps.

[Modified by chock_r, 6:58 PM 7/3/2002]


[Modified by chock_r, 6:59 PM 7/3/2002]


[Modified by chock_r, 7:00 PM 7/3/2002]

 

so would you guess it's a combination of the fuel pump and the relay, or just the relay? Should I replace both right now or replace the realy, see if that helps, then replace the fuel pump if it doesn't stop.

 

Sorry if I was not clear. I think it is probably just the relay. Not sure how much they are but autozone and advanced auto both told me that it is a dealer only part. If your problem is like the link I included in the last post then you probably would not need to replace it.

 

I can't solder very well, so I'd probably be better of just replacing the relay then trying to take it apart and resolder. Also, I was looking at http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com and saw there were a few different relays. There are a few listed in the cabin (by the fuse box) here...

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...IT+%28CABIN%29

There are also some listed under the hood here...

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...ENGINE+ROOM%29

Would it only be one relay that has gone bad, or do I need to check them all? Also, do you know which relay is the one that is being talked about in that link you posted.

 

Was browsing through the page with the relay fix, and saw that another problem it could be is the igniter.

http://www.markl.f9.co.uk/howto/elec...er/igniter.htm

I looked up the igniter on http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com and there are three different igniters listed, does anyone know whether it would matter which I use? It looks like the only difference is the brand, cause they all match up with the same illustration on the picture.

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...UTOR+%28TEC%29

 

ttt

 

I would really look into your ignition switch. If you say that the car will start when you turn the key to the cranking position and then when you let off and turn it to run and it dies. Most likely your ignition switch is going bad, especially if it is intermittant. Try this, it seems cruel to your starter but it will let you know for sure. When you try to start the car if it fires up when cranking, just hold the key in the cranking position for a few secs and then let off. If it dies right away then it is your ignition switch. Ive seen it happen to some older civics and accords.
By the way Im a certified honda mechanic.

And in response to the guys who think that the fuel pump could be bad or the main relay, you guys are on the right track but just remember that when the key is in the cranking position the power gets transfered to the fuel pump via the main relay. I know that when you turn the key to the on position that it also feeds power to the main relay and fuel pump for a few seconds but the ignition switch feeds the relay for the cranking portion of it too. The electrical part of the ignition switch may be to blame for the starting problem, contacts going bad or something.



[Modified by hondafrk, 8:46 PM 7/4/2002]

 

Thanks a lot for all your help so far guys, at least now I have some leads I can start looking into. If it was my ignition switch, how hard is that to replace? Is it something I can do myself?

Also, I take it you guys aren't concerned that I fucked something up when I did my DIY mods right? One other things I just thought of was that right around when it started happening I also bought and installed a wiring harness upgrade and some high wattage (90w) headlight bulbs. Could it be possible that they're draining my battery too much or something like that?