Hello all, I have a CRX with a y8 in it, and it has this weird issue when I try and start it. Sometimes I will turn the key and it will start up right away, no hesitation. Other times I turn the key and there will be a short delay.....then it will start cranking and fire up. And then other times I turn the key and get no cranking at all, But all the lights in the cluster come on, and I can hear the fuel pump prime aswell. And whenever it does decide to finally fire up, nothing has changed from when I was cranking it and it wasnt turning over. Which leads me to believe that something may be loose or something? But I wouldn't know where to look. Any suggestions would be awesome. Thanks.

 

First check all grounds(engine ground, tranny ground, thermostate housing ground), It could be your main relay but your sure that its clickin and fuel pump is priming? If it was the main relay it would start sometimes and not others (especialy when hot).

 

main relay is related to fuel delivery, not starter cranking, so if it's not cranking the issue is either with grounds, ignition switch, or the starter solenoid.

 

I had this happen to me and it was my clutch safety switch. I just jumped the connector.

 

Grounds may be a viable issue. Maybe the ground is dirty or something? Where are all the grounds i should be looking for? The ignition switch in the actual ignition? Does the ole' tap the solenoid while it cranks work with hondas? ha

And where is said clutch saftey switch?

 

try taking jumper cables and using only the ground side and ground the starter to the chassis by the headlights and bracket the big grounds are on, i had a similar problem turns out i had to add a ground to my starter and havent had a problem since

 

Careful with grounding the starter again, it should already be grounded at its mounting bolts. I was missing a ground and I grounded my starter, then I fried a wire inside the cabin this way. (Wire from main relay to distributor, red/black).

But for sure make sure all your grounds are good, is the best place to start.

 

Good idea. Ill do that first. Where are all the ones I should be checking?

 

^^^ these three, Tranny to the frame, thermostat ground (which consists of 4 wires in sets of 2, which are the grounds for your ECU) and the motor to frame. Note on the motor to frame ground, it should go from the frame to the bottom of the valve cover and it will daisy chain to the top of the valve cover. Google for pics.

 

When we say check for grounds make sure you go in there and sand off the surfaces to make sure you have metal to metal contact. If its dirty, just clean it.

 

The clutch switch is all the way at the top of the clutch pedal assembly, it looks like a co2 cartridge. It has a Yellow connector at the end of it. I just unplugged it and stuck a paper clip in the connector to jump it. This would allow you to start the car without pushing the clutch in, although I still do for safety reasons.

I'm warning you it's a PITA to get to though. I had to unplug the connector with a flat head screw driver, my hands were too big.