A few weeks ago i drove my car home, and shut it off. i went out later to move the car and it wouldnt start, so i assumed the battery had just died. Tried again later and it started fine. the next day, the car wouldnt start again, so i checked the battery and it is pushing plenty of power. I kept trying to start it, and all id get was the click from the starter and nothing else. Occasionally it will start about once out of every 20 times i try. SO now i thought it was the starter. I replaced the starter yesterday, and it fired up first try, i shut it off and tried again, and now it wont start again. Now i hear a buzzing and clicking noise coming from under the dash by the fuse box which leads me to believe its a relay.

Is this a problem that sounds like it could be caused by a bad relay?

Every time i get in the car and turn the key to on, everything powers up, and when it doesnt start, all the lights on the dash go out like they would if the car was turned off. The weird thing about that is, when i try it and it doesnt start, all the lights go out, but when i close or open the door everything turns back on. I figured that was because of the door acting as a ground.

So does this sound like a relay problem? or should I be looking into more advanced electrical issues? its really beginning to aggravate the hell out of me.

Also, if it sounds like a relay problem, which relay should i look into replacing? and can they be found at autozone or advance? and where exactly is it located under the dash?

 

Main relay. buy it at any autoparts store. You didnt say what kinof car you own so i dont know where its located. follow the clicking sound

 

MM&Y of car.

When you say it will not start. do you mean it cranks, [turns over] but will not fire, [start] or do you mean engine will not even crank, [turn over] like starter not working? 94

 

94 integra.

and it will not crank at all. i get one click from the starter and thats it.

 

Sounds like a main ground problem, common on older tegs.

Remove batt. and batt "box", fallow the ground cable and undo chassis ground, clean both contact surfaces and reconnect, fallow the ground cable to the transaxle and redo that ground also, don't just eyeball them or tighten them, remove, clean and reconnect.

If that does not solve your problem do the same with all the main power connections, batt. terminal, batt. to starter motor, batt. to engine bay fuse box and the main fuses. 94

 

Car still wont start. I pretty much decided to let it sit for the winter being as i wont be driving it in the snow anyways. but i tried to start it the other day just to try and get the juices flowing, and nothing happened. When i turn the key on, all the cluster lights come on like they should, the fuel pump primes, the radio plays, but the speedometer needle flutters about half way around the gauge then comes back down. then i turn it to start, everything electric dies, then i let it turn back and all the electric stuff comes back on. im stuck with this guys.

 

had this happen b4
was a battery lead and negative wire to the battery went bad...but I changed both negative and positive

 

Have you checked the connections???

Batt. cables, batt. to chassis ground and chassis to engine ground.94