I have a 96 civic d16y8 that won't start...

I have changed the battery
I have changed the distributor (in its entirety)
I have changed the starter multiple times
I have changed my ground cables to 4 guage
I found the main ground that goes on the thermastat housing , sand it down to bare metal...
I changed the main relay by the dash

still nothing...

I found out that what made my car run funny, and that caused my problem was the spark plug wires... But I have a bigger problem now

At this point my car has an electrical fault somewere,when I turn the key to try and start the car all I get is a thud sound and all the lights in the car (dash, cabin, exterior light) all go off , no engine kick (as if engine or starter were to be locked) (( engine is not blown or locked up)) ... When i let the key go all power comes back as if it never whent out.... I've bin told it could be the ignition switch, so i bypassed it with a switch for the starter , still nothing ... (no bypass switch for starter any more , using original ignition switch again)

My question is were can this electrical fault be or what can be causing this

 

HAVE YOU TRIED SWAPING ALTERNATORS?

 

Turn off your caps lock. Please.

 

check your grounds.

 

I changed my ground cables to 4 guage cable as I previously stated
The 1 that goes to the tranny (on passenger side of car) , and the 1 that goes to the to the valve cover ( drivers side of car) ....

I also located the main ground (located on the thermostat housing) , sanded down all ground points and still nothing....

Is there any other grounds that u kno of, because I whent over this already in the original post

 

So far no change any Ideas would be welcomed

 

Is the thud sound coming from the starter?

Are you able to push start the car?

If you bridge the two starter terminals (solenoid and motor), does the starter crank the engine?

 

try main relay

 

Have you checked the batter fuse or the starter fuse, have you checked your igniton switch? to me it seems like you are throwing money at the car without knowing the problem

 

Battery fuse .ok.
Starter fuse .ok.
Ignition switch .ok. (bypassed and still nothing)
Money spent so far ..none.. (house full of civic)

And obviously I don't kno what the problem is , if I did I wouldn't be asking for help.... Ijs...

 

Have you tested your ECU?? could be a longshot

 

I have swapped it out b4 ... But not since this problem started.... Worth checking again thanx...

I've been thinking of taking out the entire wire harness, under dash and engine bay, to check it for wear and tare... But I'm putting it off as much as possible

 

after that i would bust out the multimeter and start checking for shorts

 

The ECU and main relay have absolutely nothing to do with the starter.

 

The starter is good had it changed and checkd....

 

See post #7

 

I kno that what i have is an electrical fault some were be it a relay or sensor.....

When I turn the key once (1) the radio turns on with no problem and the lighter gets power ...
When i turn the key a second (2) time the dash lights (SRS, Ebrake, check engine) all ten on as is the normal......
When I turn The key the third (3) an final time is were my problem is, all the power goes out (radio, dash lights, head lights ext.) Go out until I let the key go ,, then I have full power again

 

The thud has not been located yet....

Not able to push start...

And when I bridge the starter I kicks but get stuck as if the engine or starter were to be locked, but the engine can be turned by hand and starter is in food working order...

(the more I write , the more i think that's my problem its just out of my reach)

 

i had the same sort of problem ended up putting another ground wire to the starter where the wirering harness is bolted to a bracket on the starter

 

eks are known for the wiring harness rubbing on the intake manifold bracket

 

What voltage do you measure at the large black starter motor wire? Compare using the negative battery post and the transmission as ground in the voltage test.

 

Not a bad idea, I'll give it a try

 

I'll give it a try as soon as I can I'll keep u posted on the results...

Thanks for the help...

 

Got it running..... So yesterday after work I swapped out my ecu with my brothers car and my car started right up......but at the same time, my ecu turns my brothers car on Witt no problem

I'm guessing that the wire harness under the dash has a faulty wire , only because i moved the cables around and I didn't here the thud any more..... Still have some work to do but I got the car running which is good

SN: still haven't checked the voltage read out.... Next task

 

Swapped out your edit?