I have a 95 Civic with Y8 in it and sometimes, when I try to start my car, it wouldn't start. The starter seems to be jammed. But when I directly connected Positive battery to starter, it starts right up. Today, it happened to me a few times and I had to hot-wire it.

If the starter works fine when I hot-wire it, then starter should be fine right? Any idea what could be the problem? Fuses are fine and ignition switch is also fine. I tested the ignition switch with meter.

 

What do you mean it seems to be jammed?

 

may sound dumb but make sure your terminals on your battery are clean and the hot wire bolting to the starter is thight and clean

 

When it's not starting, pull the small wire off of the starter and probe it with a test light while someone else tries to crank it. When doing this, does the test light illuminate? If not, then you have a problem which will trace back to the main relay.

 

Like it won't crank unless I connect it directly or if I put in gear and push the car to spin the engine just a little. Then it cranks.

I will check that.

I tested it with multimeter. Connected it across the wire and battery and ask someone to crank the car. It shows the voltage. But not sure if it's the same as testing with testlight.

 

A voltage test is better then a test light. If it shows battery voltage then the issue has to be in te battery cable running to the starter or possibly one of your grounds.

 

Also how exactly are you hot wiring the starter? Jumping the solenoid terminal? Or jumpin the bat terminal and turning the key?

 

I just jump the battery terminal directly to solenoid and let it spin just once with the key off. After that, I can start the car normally with the key. That's why I think it's jammed because when I directly jump it, it spins but not when I turn the key. It could be that it's not getting enough current from ignition switch.

 

When the starter won't turn, do you hear the click from the solenoid? If not, the solenoid could be beginning to get sticky. Sometimes it sticks, sometimes it doesn't.
Cleaning the starter is a temporary fix but there is no guarantee how long it will last.

 

What voltage reading do you get at the solenoid wire with someone cranking using the engine as a ground? Using battery as a ground? Maybe jump the main relay and see if that starts it. Also check your grounds. It doesn't sound like your starter is bad.

 

Yes. There's no clicking noise like low battery or anything. It just won't spin like it's stuck. If I move the car a little with gear on, it spins again to crank the car. The funny thing is, it spins right away when I directly jump it from battery.

Voltage reading from solenoid wire to engine ground and battery ground are the same. Batttery is just 3 months old. Both shows 12.12 V.

 

Im sure You should be seeing battery voltage at the solenoid wire. Somewhere in the solenoid circuit you must be losing Voltage. Maybe check connection at the main relay and starter relay possibly ignition switch. See if your losing voltage through the relay. I cant tell you which wires though cause I don't have a schematic. What is your battery voltage at?

 

could it possibly be the clutch safety switch on the top of the clutch pedal? or maybe the little rubber button on the pedal that pushes the switch?? i personally had this happen on my car. worth a look

 

I've already replaced that just a month ago and it's tested and working fine. I can tell because when I turn the key, all the lights become dim as something is draining all the current.

I finally found the problem. But I'm not exactly sure which one was the actual problem but it's been fixed. Here's what I did.

1. I took the main relay out and re-soldered all the solders inside.

2. I re-coupled and re-soldered the security system ignition safety switch wires.

The problem was that starter wasn't getting enough current. It could have been that main relay was loose or security system ignition safety switch was loose and not enough current was travelling to the starter.

Thanks for all the help.