I own a 2003 Civic Hybrid MT with ~85,000 mi on it. Approximately one out of every 100 or so starts, my car will not start. Right after I turn the key, I hear a fast grinding noise followed by whirring or spinning sound. When the car is in this state, it will not start. I can keep trying to the turn the key but it will continue to repeat this noise and it simply won't start.

Once the car has been push started, the issue will not recur until a few weeks later. I took the car to a mechanic after the first time, but they could not reproduce the problem at their shop. The second time it happened I took it back to them and once again they couldn't reproduce the problem, but they replaced the starter anyway.

I should state that prior to this my car had the dreaded input shaft bearing noise issue. I was pissed because I only bought this car 3 months ago. Anyway, the mechanic specified by the dealership replaced the clutch and rebuilt the transmission, replacing the faulty bearing in the process. The only reason I bring this up is because I've been told that my current issue could be the result of a damaged flywheel, but isn't this replaced during a clutch replacement and rebuilt transmission? The job cost about $2400 so I really think they'd do that. Furthermore, my other mechanic who's now doing the starter inspected the flywheel and found nothing wrong with it.

Well, as you might guess, the starter replacement did not fix my problem. A couple of weeks later, the problem returned. It is currently back at the shop (after a push start of course) and this time a mechanic came to my home and actually saw it while it was malfunctioning. They seem to be puzzled as to what is causing this issue.

I've uploaded a video which has a recording of the problem. In the video, you can hear someone try to turn the key on two different occasions, with the same horrible result. Can anybody out here help me on this one? Has anyone else had this problem? I really want to like this car but so far it has been one expensive headache after another…

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...1/IMG_0186.MOV

Mike

 

Hi Mike,

Civic Hybrid actually has no starter. However, it still requires a lead acid battery to start, in addition to the NMH batteries at the back. Your problem sounds like that the lead acid battery under the hood is dead. 2003 Civic Hybrid comes with a very small lead acid battery, and it is not all that durable.

XT