i have a 94 hatch and my car wont start all i hear is a rapid clicking noise. my battery is still strong, and i have cleaned my battery terminals and cleaned my connections to the starter but it still does it. so i guess my question is could my started possibly be bad and what else could cause this?

 

Rapid clicking from where and when?

 

i think its coming from under the hood somewhere but its hard to tell by myself.

 

Remove the starter and bench test it. You'll need a car battery, jumper cables, and a small length of speaker wire or similar.

Attach the negative ends of the jumper cables to the battery, as well as to the body of the starter. Where the bolts go is a good place.

Attach the positive ends of the cables to the battery, as well as to the main power lead on the starter.

Make sure you brace the starter, and keep the area in front of the starter gear COMPLETELY CLEAR. You can either brace it in a vice, or just stand on it.

Use the small length of speaker wire to connect the power terminal on the starter to the signal terminal. The starter gear should rapidly shoot out and spin. If it doesn't, the starter needs to be replaced. If it does, that isn't the problem.

 

Sounds like a dead battery to me. What voltage do you measure across the two battery posts?

 

Solid advice.

It might also be the starter relay.

 

This^^^

I must comment on OP's screen name, Love it.
My first car was a duster 340, lol

 

I was giving the OP credit that he knew how to test the battery, and isn't just saying he did. Hopefully I'm not wrong.

 

A bad starter relay is extremely rare for our Civics.

 

Here is a quick DIY to test your starter circuit: https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...=fcm&t=2961164

 

agreed


it might be the starter or the battery

 

Check the postive post is clean and on tightly...

 

I tested the starter and it worked all i did was go around and clean up all my grounds and it starts now. Thanks for all the advice i really appreciate it.