Fellow Honda People:
As far as I can tell, the starter motor is the only device in the electrical system that is NOT fused to the battery.
The starter in a Honda Civic draws up to like 350 amps. There is no fuse in the car near that size. The largest fuse I can find is only 80 amps.
Anyone agree or disagree?
Can anyone explain this?
Thanks,
Tim

 

It isn't fused, it is connected directly to the battery. The starter signal pulls far less current and is in fact fused.

 

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How much current does the starter draw?
Your response is confusing. Please clarify?

 

wiring diagram shows a direct link from batt. to starter on 05 and earlier , I guess even a fusible link would have been impractical

 

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This is the first time in my life that I realized that an automaker connected an electrical device to a car battery WITHOUT a fuse!
So theoretically, if the starter had a problem and shorted out its' LARGE supply cable, it could overheat and cause a FIRE! :-)

 

I've never seen a fuse between the solenoid and the starter on any vehicle. If that cable rubbed against something, and was a short to ground, it would turn red until the battery ran out of juice. But it shouldn't be against anything anyway, like a fuel line, that would cause a fire. If you look at the heavy cable that runs front to rear on a bmw (rear mounted battery) it has a battery safety terminal that pops in the event of an accident. A red hot cable going through the cabin would most definitely be bad for your carpet,plastic, and foam interior. I've seen plenty of old burnt up battery cables on junk vehicles that didn't seem to burn up the car. Usually the burnt out cars had a stereo system or something added, and the installer figured it wasn't worth bothering with any type of fuse.

 

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I'm not talking about the starter solenoid, I'm talking about the cable that connects the starter motor to the battery pos + term.
As far as I can tell, this is the ONLY wire in a car that is NOT protected by a fuse.
The automakers must figure that the spring-loaded starter solenoid will stop the flow of power in case of an emergency.
It just seems like a lot of juice (hundreds of amps) to be flowing to anything with absolutely no fuse at all.

 

Huh? I've never worked on a vehicle that actually had a fuse going to the starter. This isn't new or unique.

 

It's not connected directly or the starter would run continuously. There's a solenoid in there, doesn't matter if it's up on the fender or built into the starter. Concept is the same.

 

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I understand completely how the car works. My point is that when the starter solenoid activates it connects a heavy gauge wire between the starter and the battery + post that is UNFUSED.
Apparently this is the ONLY wire in the car that has NO FUSE PROTECTION.
Ya know? :-)