Hi guys! Im hoping this forum might be able to help me out... I recently inherited a 99 accord that wouldnt start, or even crank.
Its a 99 4 cyl manual with 160,000miles.

Like I said, no crank, no start. When I do go to start:
all of the accessories turn off, apart from interior lights. And the abs light illuminates. Headlights do not dim

So far, I have replaced the battery as needed,
had the starter tested, checked all grounds, did some trouble shooting on the ignition switch and replaced which did nothing, checked fuses.

Im stumped at this stage... does anybody have any ideas? Thanks in advance

 

check the clutch pad stopper down by the clutch pedal, see if its broke

 

I did try the clutch switch also, did a bypass with a piece of cable with no luck

 

What is the condition of the battery cables?

It could look good from outside but may be corroded inside.

Good luck,
Sam

 

I would check and make sure the starter is getting voltage when cranking ( power from battery) and that its getting signal from the relay. If it's not getting power, I would maybe check your main relay.

From my understanding, if its getting power and nothing happening, then your starter is bad. I too had mine tested (came back fine) but due to the intermittency of it, it was still the cause of my no crank no start.
If your not getting power to the starter (and the battery is verified as good) then check the circuit . Sounds like you have ruled the ignition switch out. There is a fuse on the drivers side, that could futz, the signal too.

In terms of verifying the battery is good, put a multimeter on it. Should read 12.6V or higher. Also check it with someone cranking and check the voltage drop.

 

The main relay only handles fuel, doesn't it? So it shouldn't prevent the engine from cranking, just from igniting correctly (or at all).

This may be a bit extreme, but some desperate parking lot situations have led to jumping the starter straight to the battery- i.e. get some nice low gauge wire, clamp it to starter terminal or the positive battery post and make a brief contact with the other end. If it cranks then you're getting somewhere. I'm not really advocating this idea (you obviously have to be EXTREMELY CAREFUL with a loose live wire), but it is an option I've seen employed- if the wiring to the starter is bad, bypassing should show that real quick.

 

Thanks so much for the replies guys.
So I also noticed that the clutch seitch grommets were missing. Put them in today and what im seeing/hearing now is that the fuel pump is definitely sending fuel when the key is turned but theres no power going to anywhere else for example the lights on the radio and climate control go out when i try to start, but not the door lights.
Im about to burn it 😂

 

ive also noticed that the keys move a little in the key barrel, for example when in the off position sometimes the car will beep to let me know the keys are in and other times it takes them to be moved to get the beep...

 

Are you able to turn the engine over manually via the crank pulley bolt? Did you check to see if the Starter is getting power from the battery and signal? I have the starter circuit diagram at home. I can post it in this thread if you want.

 

From what i understand, the main relay has a blue and orange wire that is within the starting circuit ( I think between the signal fuse and the ignition switch). If there is no continuity on that bad boy, then no start? I'm no expert though. Please correct me if I am wrong

 

replace the lock cylinder then

 

It is in the circuit, but it doesn't look like it would interrupt the starter. This thread kind of explains the dumb thing, but doesn't really answer this question- what exactly does a main relay do? | HondaSwap

If the fuel pump is priming I doubt it's the relay anyway, though it could be possible.

accord999, I would consider revisiting your grounds. The accessories bottoming out without killing the interior lights is earily similar to an issue I had on a 91 Civic - the ground post corroded, but you couldn't tell at all without removing the terminal. All connections were tight. Enough contact to keep accessories running, but when you put the key to start all the higher draw stuff choked but tiny things (like the dome light) didn't seem to notice. I thought my starter died but all it took was to pull the terminal and scrape both surfaces off.