I have a '91 Accord and the engine will not turn over. There is still power and you can hear the starter make a sound but it never turns over. Is this a bad starter or something else? I am sure i haven't flooded it or anything.

 

An engine needs 2 things to run; gas and spark. You're not getting one of them.

To see if you have spark, pull the spark plug and wire(one at a time for all four) and have someone crank the car momentarily. With the spark plug plugged into the plug wire and in sight, you should see a small spark.

To check for fuel, I've always unplugged the closest fuel filter to the engine. Again, have someone momentarily crank the engine. You should have fuel coming from that hose.

Go from there............

 

try tapping the starter with hammer ,,, i had the same problem with my starter.. it just clicked...also my battery cable was loose.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by riceburner247 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">An engine needs 2 things to run; gas and spark.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You forgot air

 

If it just clicks, it could be the solenoid, like another user posted, tap on it with a hammer to loosen any debris on the electrical windings.

Another cause could be bad battery connection. Everything else in the car will work when the key is turned to the Run position, but a bad/corroded connection will prevent enough current from reaching the starter. Clean the battery posts and reseat the terminals.

Or the solenoid could be shot and it needs to replaced. (not too common me thinks)

If you have a manual tranny, you can try to pop-start it to make sure the car still runs and has nothing else stopping you from troubleshooting.

Also check all fuses. I know the starter is linked to the battery direct, but the solenoid is part of the starter circuit so make sure you don't have any blown fuses. (First rule in electrical troubleshooting, or one of the first rules)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pyrojeff &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You forgot air </TD></TR></TABLE>

Let's not get technical.

 

Starter contacts, but check battery connections and grounds first.

 

also your battery could be low on charge, ya know just enough to turn on lights but not enough to turn starter, try jumping the car

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by riceburner247 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Let's not get technical.</TD></TR></TABLE>

um....if im not mistaken, the 3rd ingrediant is compression......???

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fw190bvi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

um....if im not mistaken, the 3rd ingrediant is compression......???</TD></TR></TABLE>



And back on topic, I had the same problem before, the car would have power but it would just crank and not turn over.. ended up being the ignition coil.

 

just turn the key till the power comes on and roll down a hill and throw that baby in first and dump the clutch lol it should come on lol j/m

 

HI ALL.

I have a '96 Accord EX 5-speed.

I have a similar problem, although I have had some work done on it already.

I had my starter replaced last November. I could tell it was dying because it made all kinds of bad grinding noises when it tried to start and failed. The car worked fine until about mid-March. I got stranded because the car would not start. All the power came on fine. I did not hear any noise at all coming from the starter. This dying happened about one other time.

Then I got out of school late May. My bro and I took the car around the city on a *hot* day. We went to a store, came back. DEAD. Power came on fine. No noise from the engine. (At least nothing loud enough to notice.)

I take it back to Bud's Auto (not to self, never take your car to a place with someone's name in the title.) Well, he has no clue what is wrong with it and probably thinks I'm an idiot. (It's the other way around actually.) So, I get my car back. Obviously it starts fine because it had been sitting for a while. A few days later, DEAD. Power is fine, nothing from the engine.

As a side note, every time the engine has "died" I could pop-start it just fine. (Thank God it's a 5-speed.)

So I take it back to Bud's. He's is *POSITIVE* it's the starter. So, he puts a new starter in for free. (At least I think he put a new one in.) The car works for a few days more, then, again, DIES. At this point I'm extremely mad. I take it to the Honda dealer. They know these things inside and out, they can fix it in a jiffy right? NO. The chief mechanic tells me they have no idea what is wrong with it. He said they started the car about 60 times and it worked fine every time. Well, DUH, you have to drive it around I say. He's speechless. He says the only thing he can think of is the ignition switch. So, I take a gamble and drop 160 bucks on this thing.

I think my problem is solved. The car works fine for about 2 weeks. (Ah, cool weather perhaps?) Then, TODAY, it's kind of hot out. I deliver pizzas for a summer job, so I'm driving the car for a few hours a day. I get ready to leave a delivery spot, and DEAD. Oh great. I'm able to pop-start it myself and I head to my next delivery. i thought it would come to and and start when I was leaving, but no, it was dead. Again, everything electrical in the car works fine. No sound from engine. I get two nice people to help me pop-start it again and I head back to work.

I'm wracking my brain. I'm no mechanic so I can't even begin to theorize what is wrong. I turn off CD, air, everything and listen. I turn the key. I can hear a slight "whirring" sound coming from the dash or somewhere not in my immediate area. I get my boss to come out. She tries some jumper cables from her truck to my car. Nothing. She said she heard a "hissing" sound, but nothing from the starter.

She suggested it could be a coil in the distributor. Does that seem possible? I shouldn't have to be giving "certifiied" Honda mechanics suggestions, but obviously they are not sharp enough to think of all possibilities.

PLEASE HELP ME!

 

Bad ground

 

I just got back from the Honda dealer. He said "Hondas don't have wiring problems." I told him to check it anyway and also told him to check the leads for corrosion. He said he'd get a guy to drive it around and see if he could get the problem to happen.

Any other ideas?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TexAccord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I just got back from the Honda dealer. He said "Hondas don't have wiring problems." I told him to check it anyway and also told him to check the leads for corrosion. He said he'd get a guy to drive it around and see if he could get the problem to happen.

Any other ideas?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Your problem sounds like a bad main relay, not a common problem on 5th gens like it was on 4ths but I have seen it happen. It may be getting overlooked because it's so uncommon on the 5th gen. I've only had 2 in the last year go bad. But it definately can cause temperature related no starts.