So... this is a bit of a long story... here it goes...

Last week, I was putting in my upper control arm poly bushings. Once done with that, I saw a bolt that was loose on the top of the transmission... Hmm so i'll tighten it... It was right by the starter, where the 12v comes straight from the battery. I put my 12mm and ratchet on the bastard and tightened it right up... in the process i accidentally leaned the wrench to the side and hit that 12v post on the starter.... the transmission being grounded completed a circuit.

The confusion will soon come.

I got in the car... car wouldnt crank. So i had it push started. It ran. woo. I just messed up the started no biggie. So i thought. I drove down the highway and started losing all lights. The alternator wasnt giving power to the car. So I took it back to the garage. And started looking over everything. Cant find a damn thing wrong.

I Replaced the starter cut relay, main relay, starter, I HAVE a new alternator, but im not seeing that as the issue. And the damn car STILL will not crank. Please help.

Yes I checked all fuses. And did some quick checks with my multi meter. I looked over the schmetic in the haynes manual and I dont see where the problem could lie.

The car is a 1992 civic dx. I'm getting quite aggrevated that 1 QUICK spark could cause such problems.

Any ideas to point me in the right direction would be appreciated.

 

Before anything else, disconnect batt. pos.(+) terminal, then remove clean and reconnect the batt. cable at the starter motor, then clean both the batt. post and cable clamp and reconnect the batt., try and start the car.

If engine will still not crank...
First thing to check for is power at the starter motor lug that has the batt. cable connected to it, test the lug not the batt. cable or terminal, if there is power at the lug have someone try and start the car and hold ign. key in the start position and again test for power on the lug, if it is still good do a bypass jump, using a jumper wire, [12ga min.] jump from the lug to the starter solenoid input, [unplug the starter lead to make jumping easier] BE CARFULL, make sure car is not in gear and hand brake is set, engine will crank even if car is in gear and ign. switch is off.

Also, have you checked the batt. for power, you said, " I drove down the highway and started losing all lights" an indication that alt. was not charging and you were running on the batt. and as batt. went down so did the lights.

Questions...
Do you still have lights?
Does the instrument cluster "light up" when you turn ign. key to run, [not start]?

Try this... turn on dome light, [open door or use switch] then try and start car, does dome light stay on when ign. switch is in start position? 94

 

Its not the battery... I charged it and setup the charger to jumpstart 225 amps and nothing. Sooo... I'm thinking theres a short somewhere. Ive checked the battery (load test), its weak. but its still there. the cluster and all lights kick up like normal just as if the car was goign to start, I hit the key and nothing but silence.

Starter has power. Grounds are good. Starter is good (tested at autozone).

I cleaned the terminals on the battery checked the water level... I'm lost.

 

Did you try the bypass jump?94

 

No I havent... I dont understand what thats trying to prove? The starter is known good. Sooo that being said. its a problem in the starting circuirty correct?

 

A bypass jump will tell you if it is a starter circuit problem, if engine cranks with the bypass jump, not only do you know the starter and starter solenoid are good but also power and ground to the starter and starter solenoid are good.

There is no point in checking anything else until you know that the bypass jump works, when troubleshooting you start at one end and work back, you can also start at the other end, [ign. switch] and work the other way, the bypass jump is easy to do and tells you a lot, that's why I always start there.

If bypass jump works the next step is the starter relay, it will also be bypassed to check, unplug the relay and jump the heavy gauge leads, then try and start the car, if it cranks the problem is the starter relay or it is not getting a ground from the CIS, reinstall relay and ground the clutch interlock switch lead, [probably a black/blue lead] and try and start again, if engine cranks move to the CIS and check it. 94

 

I had the same problem long time ago, turned out a wire came loose under the kick panel near the fuse box area. Cant remimber which one though. Check you wiring under the dash, and check all the blk/wht 10 gauge wires make sure somewhere it didnt get disconnected. If not listen to FCM he knows his ****.

 

will do. FCM does seem to know a lot. I've never really dealt with chassis wiring problems so ive been stressin a bit too much about all this ****.

what was pointed out in another thread was i need to check the small black wire for voltage with the switch in the ON (III) position. I thought this was the starter ground at first when i was frustrated and not thinking clearly. BUT now i see this is for the solenoid to engage. and the starter is grounded via the transmission ground.

I have the day off tomorrow so I'll be working on this pos. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

Looked around under the dash... seems to be good. Checked all fuses via multimeter... all come back within a fraction of an ohm. so basically perfect.

Im about to attempt the starter bypass here in a couple of minutes... i'll keep everyone posted.

 

ok. so after a week of bs i found the retarded problem...


when i said i checked the trans ground... i checked it totally wrong... And im guessing that when this arc happened, it kinda fouled the connection between the ground cable and chassis... I cleaned up the surfaces(wire wheeled to bare metal)... and woo it started... lol what a stupid problem. oh well... it was a learning experience. Thanks for all the help.