Alright, i have a 91 CRX HF with a DOHC ZC engine in it. It was working perfectly fine yesterday, and now i go to start it up to go somewhere and it dosent even try to turn over.. or make any noise. The only noise i hear when i turn the key, is a noise in the engine bay, like a hissing noise. If anyone knows anything i can check, or what might have died, that would be great! Thanks!

 

Hissing is the fuel pump priming...it should stop after a few seconds

1 - Could be as simple as your clutch switch...short it and try that.

2- Most likely your starter

 

First, Make sure the POS. & NEG. terminal are tight to the post of the battery.

Also while under the hood, look at all the fuses in fuse box under the hood. Make sure all is good.

The Ball

 

hmm i checked the fuses, they all seem fine, i replaced fused #14 under the dash with a new one, still nothing.. how do i go about shorting out the clutch switch? Also, where can i find the clutch switch? Any other suggestions? How does a starter just "die" i mean, my car was working fine yesterday.. Also, if i need a new starter, how hard is it to put in myself? Where can i get one? And what kind do i need for the DOHC ZC.. 89 integra, or just ask for d16a6?

 

What about the pos. and neg. terminal?

Most likly the neg. if either one is lose.

 

im gonna go check that, im gonna clean them off, and put them back on.. hopefully its just that, i mean the car was just working perfectly fine yesterday, i drove 3 hrs away and 3 hrs back, then drove some more..

 

Okay, just checked the pos and neg on battery, everything is tight, checked ground wires, seems like everything is tight and in its right place.. *sigh* so im guessing its the starter? How do i replace this? How do i check if it is infact the starter... ?

 

anyone? help?

 

Try the clutch switch...but dont hold your breath.

Get under the dash...look along the clutch pedal...look up...there should be a cylender with 2 wires comming from it attached to the pedal..its the clutch switch....you can just jump both wires together with a paperclip and try that.

But dont hold your breath over it..

BTW...your battery might just be shot too....they tend to do wierd **** like that....remove it and try someone else's battery.

As far as replacing a starter....I'm assuming tis the same as my 88 crx si.....the starter is pretty easy to access...its on top of the tranny....there are 2 bolts...one requires some mackgyverism to take off...but its pretty simple.

 

you have to pull the starter out and take it to like advance auto parts, or checker or any autoparts place to have them test it to make sure that its either good or bad. Thats really the only way to know, there is another way, but i got shocked to hell doing it that way so i dont suggest trying it, so im not even goin to tell you. Just pull it out and take it in to have it checked

 

Alright, im still new to this stuff, but i have done all of my own work on my car, can someone get me a picture of what the starter looks like so that i can pull it out and walk my *** down to advanced auto with it? I know it sounds like a dumb question, but i really dont know what the starter looks like Im gonna try to jump it using another batt.. also, how do you start a car by push starting or what not, ive done it before i just dont remember..

 

If you're talking about measuring the amps the starter pulls its simple.

Measure the internal resistance of the battery...I believe this can be done directly....knowing that...measure the voltage the battery puts out when the key is at RUN.....then measure the voltage its putting out when you have the key at "start".

Knowing the voltage drop and internal resistance yeilds the amps beeing pulled...according to

V=IR

So if you measure a 4 volt drop, and in internal resistance of 0.01 ohm:

I= V/R = 400 amps

 

It was the clutch switch causing your same problem on my old ZC sedan, and my little brother's 91 HB had the same thing happen, not more than a month apart. Not the switch itself actually, but the little plastic plug on the pedal that mates up against the clutch switch plunger when you push the pedal in. It disintegrated in both cases just from old age.

Try putting the car in neutral, pushing in on the clutch switch plunger(the springy part) and turn the key. you'll have to reach pretty far up under the dash with one hand, and turn the key with the other. Try that before you try shorting it, because that connector is a pain to get off.

EDIT: I have never seen a starter go bad on a honda but I'm sure it happens. If you need a new ZC starter though, I have 2 of them.

 

Get the service manual for the car...I cant post the link because of some sort of policy....but you might wanna start by looking at http://tech.hybridgarage.com/...they have allot of resources.

Push starting involves you / someone else pushing the car in either direction to a speed of say 8 mph...you'll wanna be in the right gear for the direction you are gooing...I.E. reverse if the car is beeing pushed backwards....and 1st if its gooing forwards. Then feather the clutch....the engine should start cranking and might start.....if the car jerks and stops...try it again a bit faste...if nothing...its most likely your battery. A bad batter will make it damn neer impossible to push start it.

Dont JUMP another battery on...install someone else's batter....if you jump it, you'll be placeing a dead battery in || with a good one, and cause a drain from the good battery to the bad one...which will drain your voltage.

 

wow, jet black pulls out the technical stuff hahaha nice equation tho, thanks.

as for the starter let me see if i have a pic

ok i dont have a pic. look on the battery, on the positive cable there is a thick cable that runs to the starter, and there is a thin one that runs to the fuse box, follow the thick one down to the starter, its a cylinder that is sticking out of the topside of the tranny green and silver is what mine looks like 2 bolts.

 

Dont quote me on it...been a while since I used my brain...but I believe the equasion is quite exact....according to Kirchkoff loop theory.


...

Come to think of it...you cant measure the internal resistance directly....so its a PITA to do it my way....you'd need to measure the drains for given amperages (the ones you can measure directly)...so say you turn your headlights on and measure a drain of 8 amps....and a voltage drop of .8 volts...the internal resistance can be determined:

V = IR
R = .8/8 =0.1 ohms

But for a good result you'd need to measure many different voltage / amperage values...then do a linear fit of the data....the slope will be the internal resistance of the battery...you can then easily obtain the amperage pulled by the starter

 

Which part does this look like that may be causing my car not to start? I looked under the clutch pedal, and there is the little cylinder looking thing with the white plug, i unplugged the plug and plugged it back in, but still no luck starting, what do i need to do to get it goin? What does the switch control?


Also, is the starter just held in by two bolts, or more?

 

Tahts the clutch switch dude...unplug it and jump the wires with a paperclip...see if that does something.

2 bolts hold the starter in.....2 more hold the wires to the starter

 

YOU GUYS ARE THE BOMB! It was the clutch switch.. i pressed the clutch pedal down, and reached my hand up under the dash, pushed the plunger piece in (switch) and BAM the car decides to start!

So now, the question is.. how do i PERMANENTLY fix this problem? Id rather not have to stick my hand under there everytime!

 

Jump the wires...you wont have a cltuch switch anymore...but its no biggie...that's what I'd do...the 88 crx si didnt even have a cltuch swithc anyways

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jet Black &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Jump the wires...you wont have a cltuch switch anymore...but its no biggie...that's what I'd do...the 88 crx si didnt even have a cltuch swithc anyways</TD></TR></TABLE>

so did the 88 hf crx

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jet Black &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the 88 crx si didnt even have a cltuch switch anyways</TD></TR></TABLE>

I was wondering about that, because in '99, my wife (6mos pregnant) leaded into the car(88CRX Si) and started it, not noticing it was in Reverse. Started up, pulled her halfway across the driveway, knocked her down, and almost ran into the neighbors' house. Lucky I got to it in time. Anyway, that's why I fix them rather than bypass them.

 

Even Weirder...

the little rubber pad thing seems to be on the pedal, but now the car starts anyways with the clutch pushed in, or just not pushed in, like it was before.

Could it have not started cause the button was just like stuck or something? Everything seems to be working fine now though, but i just wanna know how the switch is SUPPOSED to work, because when i push the clutch in, the rubber piece on the pedal, comes OFF the switch, when the pedal is NOT pushed in, the rubber piece on the pedal pushes in the switch.. this correct?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GroundZer0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> i just wanna know how the switch is SUPPOSED to work, because when i push the clutch in, the rubber piece on the pedal, comes OFF the switch, when the pedal is NOT pushed in, the rubber piece on the pedal pushes in the switch.. this correct?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Correct. Little pad pushes in plunger when pedal pressed -&gt; closes circuit -&gt; starter circuit completed

 

Okay, well i guess everything is working fine then! Thanks alot guys, least i know what to do now if it decides not to work later! Once again, thanks to everone. tech 0wns!