I have a 1994 Honda Civic. Sometimes when I try to crank it will not start, sometimes it's fine. I thought it was the main relay so I swap the one I had from my totaled civic(the main relay was new) to this one and it still does it. Anybody have any idea?

 

ideas... maybe. first, questions.

when it messes up, is it spinning and not starting, or it just won't turn over?

will it start after one or two tries? how often does it happen, every few weeks, once a week, once a day..?

you're on the right track looking at electrical components, you've just got to narrow it down to the right one.

 

It's spinning and not starting.

It starts whenever it feels like it, lol. Sometimes on the 3rd try, sometimes on the 10th try. Sometimes I have no problem starting the car. It happens sometimes once or more a day or once a week.

 

whenever it doesnt crank over...try to see if it has spark...i had it happen to my 95 ej1 and i knew it would be the ignition coil so i just swaped it out wif one i had layin around

 

sounds like your starter is getting a good connection but is not engaging the flywheel all the time

 

I have a feeling it's the ignition coil and i'll find out this weekend when I have more time.

 

How are your spark plugs? My car had a similar problem to what you've described, and it ended up being that my plugs were shot. It'd start up, I'd drive it to the gas station, go to restart it at the gas station and nothing. I'd have to wait like 5-10 minutes, and eventually it would start again. Just a thought.

 

Sounds like a main relay problem, get a known good one from a friend and see if that fixes it.

 

Probably main relay of fuel pump taking a little longer to prime maybe? Next time you're gonna do a cold start, try putting the key ignition on the ON position but wait like 5 seconds before actually spinning it to START to get it to crank.

 

word.

this fits the symptoms. the coil can cause intermitent no-start as it's getting close to failing completely. if you have access, try a known loaner/spare to see if that fixes it... it could be an ignitor also if you find you have no spark, so you want to avoid buying two parts when you only needed the one.