I have a lightly modded 88 Civic HB. I was driving the car pretty hard the other night, pulled over to meet up with a friend, tried starting car to follow him to his house but it wouldn't start. Went with him, came back later (about 40 mins), car started right up.

Drove car to Sacramento that night. All was fine, left it running when filling with gas or stopping to drain the main vain.

Took car to Walmart, drove a little harder then normal driving, parked car and went in store. Came out after about 20 mins, car wouldn't start. returned later that night when it was cooler, car started right up.

Took car to hockey last night, same driving style. Had about a 50 min draft. came back to car, wouldn't startup. Turned key off, ran through all gears (it's an auto), started up just fine.

I'm not sure what the issue is. Might be my started but wanted some opinions first. Sorry for the long post.

 

you need to change the main relay.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ShagginJet &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Took car to hockey last night, same driving style. Had about a 50 min draft. came back to car, wouldn't startup. Turned key off, ran through all gears (it's an auto), started up just fit.</TD></TR></TABLE>

My friend had a problem like that, and we found out that when he put it in park, It wasn't locking in place, so the car wouldnt start since it can only start in park or nuetral. Try messing with the shifter to make sure it is in park when you start it.

 

main relay....do you hear the pump prime when the car wont start?

 

I've already replaced the main relay with an OEM dtraight from the Honda shop. I did notice that sometimes shifting gears will help, but it didn't for two of the more recent times.


Modified by ShagginJet at 7:05 PM 8/14/2003

 

I know dick all about automatics....but take the shop manual...find the wires that are connected to the gear position sensor...and see what you can do to test it / short it to bypass the sensor

 

when the car won't start, does the engine turn over and over and over or do you get dead silence?

if it turns over = main relay. cheap to fix, easy to put in

dead silence = problem with auto shifter

 

Dead silence....

Is there any way that the car is getting so hot that the starter isn't firing up? Could my thermastat be broken?

 

Because NOTHING happens when you turn the key (no clicks, no starter motor, nothing) I would have to say that this is the cause of an electrical problem and the shifter sounds like your best bet. Some sensor somewhere is loose and when it isn't working properly it cuts the signal from your key to your starter. Is it possible that you could locate the malfunctioning sensor and bypass it? I had the same problem with my clutch safety switch, which was designed to keep you from starting the car when it was in gear. If the clutch was in and the tranny was in first, dead silence. I bet a similar switch/sensor is used to keep you from starting the car when its not in neutral or park. Hope this helps, and good luck!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ShagginJet &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Dead silence....

Is there any way that the car is getting so hot that the starter isn't firing up? Could my thermastat be broken? </TD></TR></TABLE>

No - your thermostat has nothign to do with it. The thermostat is a device that restricts the ammount of water flow through the engine when the temperature of the water is cold. It allows more water to flow as the water heats up.

If when you turn the ignition key there is absolute dead silence it could either be a swtich located in the shift mechanism or it could be the starter. The shifter would be the more likely choice. When I had automatic I would have to press the shifter slightly towards the front of the car to make the switch close and then I would be able to start the car. There is an interlock system for the automatics and it checks to ensure the car is in PARK or NEUTRAL for starting. You may want to switch into NEUTRAL the next time your problem occurs to verify if the shifter is the source of your problem.

If the shifter does not appear to be the problem then the starter would be the next likey culprit. If there is absolute dead silence then the starter solenoid is not actuating. A starter includes a starter solenoid which basically functions like a big relay. If you look at the wires going into the starter there is a big fat one that runs directly to the battery. There are also some skinny ones which run to the igntion switch. There is no way that the skinny wires could provide enough electrical current to start the car. If that was the job of the skinny wires then they would fry up in an instant. So what happens is the skinny wire triggers a solenoid in the starter that actually makes the big fat wire do all the work and not the skinny wire. If when you turn the key you can here a loud click coming from the engine bay then your starter solenoid is working, but the starter itself is not functioning correctly. If you don't hear that click then the solenoid is either not working or it's electrical connections are fouled.

 

Sorry couldn't reply because of my 5 post per day rule... LAME.

It was giving me some trouble last night so i had it in park and wiggled it around while holding the key in the starting position and it cranked over.... So now I'm almost 100% sure it's the switch. Thanks guys. I'll let you know when i replace it.

 

Was in Newport, pulled over, put some gas in car, go to turn car on, NOTHING. tried shifter in all different positions, nothing. Pushed car to shady area, turned key to on and fans in engine bay engaged. Let the fans run till they stopped by themselves. Tried car, started.

So WTF. It has to be something to do with heat. I can't figure it out.

 

it's the main relay

 

It's been replaced. Like less then 6 months ago.

 

you should at least check it just to eliminate it. sometimes new parts go bunk.

 

Will try that when I get paid next. Had it happen to me today again, this time I just wiggled the shifter while in park and it started.

 

i've heard in here that you can resolder them yourself. you might do an archived search on main relays. hope you figure it out.

 

Before I replaced it the first time I checked into fixing the borken one. I have all the stuff to do it but figured the $40 bucks for the relay was worth a new one, considering mine was 14 years old.