1998 Accord – Intermittent start, won’t crank
For about a year now, we’ve been having trouble with our otherwise trusty 11-year-old Honda Accord. On very rare occasions, it refused to crank when we tried to start it… It’s got a manual transmission, and it was acting exactly as it would have if we hadn’t stepped on the clutch: dead silence. After waiting a few minutes, it would usually “fix itself”. As a band-aid solution to the problem, I figured out that we could get it started by running a jumper wire from the positive battery terminal to the ‘S’ solenoid input on the starter. Worked fine for emergencies, but it’s been gradually happening more and more, to the point that it’s become nearly a daily occurrence. Tired of having to pop the hood to start the car, I decided that it was time to do some real troubleshooting.
Following the diagram for the starter circuit, I realized that there could only be three possible causes:
- A problem with the ignition switch
- Something wrong with the “starter cut relay”
- An issue with the associated wiring of #1 or 2
I tried researching the problem online, and found a few people with the same or similar symptoms. In those cases, it was the starter, the ignition switch, or the starter cut relay. Because I have to order my parts by mail, I didn’t want to order the wrong part, and I thought I’d try out one of those online pay-to-get-your-question-answered sites. I settled on JustAnswer.com, and sent in the question, seeking advice on how to further troubleshoot. The response I got was basically “it sounds like it’s probably the ignition switch”. After responding that I wanted to be sure which part was bad before I ordered it, and requesting troubleshooting advice again, I was told that it had to be the ignition switch, along with superfluous information on how to replace it. Sorry, buddy, but if you want my 9 dollars, you’re going to have to actually answer the question that I asked!
A few days ago, we had some good fortune: the car wouldn’t start, and had not healed itself, and Cathy was around to try to crank it while I held a multimeter under the hood. On the small wire that went to the solenoid (the ‘S’ input), I measured zero volts with the ignition switch in the “Start” position. After a few minutes, the voltage showed up, but was low: I measured only around 8 volts, and heard a “ting” noise from the solenoid. I watched the voltage creep up, and as it passed 9 volts, the starter engaged. That confirmed that the problem was lying somewhere in the ignition circuit, but I still needed a way to narrow it down.
Eventually, I came up with an idea on my own, and last night, after a long struggle, I managed to wrestle out the starter cut relay, and installed a jumper wire across terminals 3 and 5, which should basically bypass the relay completely. The car has been driven several times since, and it hasn’t come back yet. Here’s hoping…
Update – it came back. Looks like I’ve found the real problem. About two years ago, I helped my father-in-law change the clutch. Apparently, somebody forgot to tighten down the starter all the way! So, it wasn’t getting a good ground. Looks like those two years of being loose may have damaged the starter… Now, we can sometimes hear the solenoid engage, but it won’t crank… Grrrrrr!