Hey all, I'm kind of running out of ideas here, so if anyone has experienced this or has any ideas, I'd greatly appreciate the help.
My brother borrowed my 07 Civic Ex (manual) and it has been sitting for a year or so and it now won't start. It was cranking slow, so he charged the battery and it hadn't changed. We tried jumping it and it still cranks very slowly, one or two revolutions maybe before it stops cranking. Next we changed the starter out with a used but good one, no change. Swapped in a new starter, swapped out the battery with the one from my Si and still no change, replaced the negative battery cables, still no change. Tried jumping it with a jumper battery as well as another running car n no matter what it cranks very slow and then stops. The connections all looked good. I need to get this car running again and am thinking about trying popping the clutch like I used to do all the time with my old Beetle when the battery was low or the starter was sticking. It ran fine before, and has oil in it though it did leak a little since I bought it a couple years ago with over 200k on it.

 

Check the starter relay?

 

Thanks, av911. No, I hadn't seen it and thought it might have been built into the solenoid or something. I'll be checking that once i figure out how to get to it

 

Well, crap, the starter relay made no difference at all. I swapped it out. Also, I can hear the fuel pump prime, but it doesn't crank long enough for that to matter I would imagine.

 

Is the green Immobilizer light lit on the dash? Maybe not recognizing the key?

 

No Immobilizer light. It cranks but very slowly and only maybe one revolution before it runs out of juice. I just tried using a jumper battery and a battery cable directly to the positive starter terminal and it seemed to crank a little faster and longer but still no where near like it should.
Oh, also checked and had 12v at the 2 positive terminals of the starter relay.

 

Voltage drop test for bad ground cables

 

Thanks RyantheGreat, the test we just did a measurement after trying having already been trying a few times to crank and voltage dropped from 12.8 to 9.7 across the battery terminals while attempting cranking for about 20 seconds. Hmm I don't think I got a voltage drop measurement at the starter while cranking yet. I'll get that next
Crap I guess that's it, 7.0 across the starter while cranking.

 

Voltage drop from the negative terminal of the battery to the engine block. Shouldn't see more than 1v when cranking. Should see 0v with key on or off.

 

Ok, thanks again. it's gonna be a few days probably until I can get back over there to check that. I remember the drop was zero across the grounds while not cranking n I replaced all of them except the passenger side one just to rule them out and seeif the was any improvement. If there was, it was not noticeable. I can't remember if we got cranking voltage drop across them though.

 

Can also do the same voltage drop on the positive terminal to the positive wire on the starter.

It is possible the new starter is junk.