ok so after working on my car doing random things for the last week or so (replaceing starter, dizzy cap, and trying to re attach my speedo cable) i hooked my battery up and tried to start my car. it just cranked and cranked (maybe 3 like 5 second tries give or take a few seconds) then i stop and get out and take off my battery conections and look around. i notice i spaced out and forgot to hook up the dizzy plugs. i plug in the plugs and re hook up the battery. now as soon as i conect the battery i get a loud clicking. any ideas on what would be clicking? i had a friend touch the battery so i could listen in the driver seat cause i heard the driver side door move a little and it sounds like the clicking is coming from around the left of the steering wheel and a little below. from the engine bay it sounds like from around intake manifold or on the driver side of that.

 

also it is a 1990 crx si with a sohc zc vtec. wired for obd1. when i first looked in my pay after i tried starting it 2 of the o2 sensor wires had lost the electrical tape from a splice and were touching and they had a slight spark but then i re taped them and then hooked up the battery and then it started clicking. could this have blown a fuse maybe and that is causeing this?

 

Yes, check the ecu fuse in the engine bay's fuse box.

 

Are the key in the ignition or not?
Common problem people have is bad grounds.
They put the keys in, turn to "on" (but not start), and it sounds like rapid fire machine gun.

 

its wired for toggle switches but ya i have them flipped so everything is on and all i have to do is hit the last one for start. but yes JUST like that sound! and i will go check all my grounds. please let me know if there are any more than this. one from valve cover, from tranny, the section of grounds that goes to right next to where the tranny ground is (like on the same braket) also i did look in the engine bay box when this first happend nothing was blown.

just curious why would it not click when i didnt have the dizzy plugged in and click like 10 seconds later when it was? or would this mean i should check where the dizzy is grounded to?

 

Its in the bay for sure? Maybe the main relays going out and your hearing it go crazy

 

yeah - it's the main relay machine gun sound that I was describing.
The ground for this issue is located on the thermostat housing.

 

^It not my pOst but thanx for that info. I'll remember that when I'm at work

 

ok i checked that ground and it looked good. it wasnt lose or anthing but i took it off and it was bare metal to metal. still have the same problem. just curous could this be the main relay just going bad?

 

ok so i am getting a clicking when my key is in the on possition. i was told in my other post asking what the clicking noise was to check the thermostat ground. i checked this and said that the ground is good. it was tight and bare to bare. then i didnt get any more responses and i figured the name of my post wasnt describing the problem that i now know i have. so my question is if the ground is good that means that my main relay is bad and thats why its making the clicking noise? or are there any other reasons that this would be clicking.

 

Main realys CAN be re-soldered to work again (if that's the problem,search main relay repair in the FAQ stickied @ top of this forum-or on inet) Is your battery fully charged? (later than 88 models also have clutch switch that must be depressed to start,and IIRC there's a relay on that as well) In neutral,with key on- "jump" across starter solenoid under hood with 2 insulated screwdrivers,etc from sol main pwr terminal to the lil sol terminal (temp. remove sol "crank" blk/wht wire,then replace after testing) This will tell you if battery is charged enough to crank engine/if starter n solenoid works...

 

ok well my battery is charged enough to crank it. my car is run on toggle switches not a key so it clicks when i have them switched to basically the on possition. and i can hit the switch to start and it will just crank and crank. im just wondering if the relay is bad does it do the same things as if the ground is bad. what do i look for on the relay to tell if it is bad i guess i could just look at that also

 

ok i took my relay out and none of the sodder points are cracked. but there is alot of brown stuff in it. looks kinda like rust or maybe old glue of some sort. could i just need to clean it maybe? also it has that electrical smell to it. kinda like the static smell. im new to any sort of wiring problems so sorry if some of my questions or idea dont help.

 

You had the machine gun sound when you flipped your toggle to "ON", right?
The smell if probably from the rapid firing of the relay.
Pretty much expected.

With the main relay plugged in as it should be, run a jumper wire straight from PIN 2 to ground.
I'm still fairly convinced that your relay isn't getting proper ground.

 

just curious with it pluged in how would i get a wire to pin 2? wouldnt it be pluged in? or do you mean just cut the wire for the ground and run a separate wire to something like the metal in the door well? would that ground it out?

and correct i could have the car hooked up and it would be fine but as soon as it went to on it would get the sound

oh and thank you for the help on this.

 

also i called honda and they said the brown stuff on my relay was probably corrosion and to scrub the relay with steal wool untill the brown stuff is gone. this sounds like a terrible idea to me since it would scratch the hell out of the circut board. just seeing if anyone agrees with the honda guy.

 

You could access the back of the pin from the back of the connector with a paperclip.
Better bet would be to strip back some of the wire insulation and wrap wire onto that.

Brown stuff could be really poorly controlled soldering where there is a lot of flux residue left over.
Does it look anything like either of these?
If that's what it looks like and you really want to clean it off then use some cotton swabs and iso alcohol.
Steel wool will destroy the protective coating over the traces on the PC board.



Also, cold solder joints are really hard to see with the naked eye.
You really need magnification.
Touching up the solder points would be a good idea if you have the main relay out already.
yours could be similar to this and it's creating an electrical arc that isn't strong enough to give you a solid connection.

 

Only one thread per topic is allowed. Related threads merged.

Measure continuity to body ground on the black ground wire terminal in the main relay plug.

 

sorry ron. i thought that saying main relay would get more responses than just clicking in the engine bay and the clicking one was a few pages back. is there any way i could change the name?

4dref on my relay there isnt anything noticeable as far as cracks but i will get a closer look soon, also thanks for saying that the residue isnt a problem. honda tech at the dealer ship swore it was my problem..... so much for an award winning service program....



ron is there anywhere that i could have someone measure the continuity like how autozone checks like starters, alternators and batterys? cause im am up at school and i dont have any equipment to read anything like that

 

Thread title edited to mention the main relay.

An adequate multimeter can be purchased from Harbor Freight Tools for as little as $4.

 

oh well in that case i will have to get a ride to get one

 

Look for coupons at the HFT site to ensure getting the sale price.

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-funct...ter-98025.html

so something like this would work perfect right?

 

yep

 

ok Ron i got a meter from a friend and now im going to measure the continuity of the ground on the main relay. but im sorry i am VERY new to wiring and i do not understand your description so im sorry if this sounds like a dumb question. do you mean put one of the prongs of the meter on the spot on the plug that the black ground wire goes into. then the other prong on the meter on the frame to ground it? and then take a reading from that. thank you for the help it is very helpfull and i am glad to get it.