Car won't start.....
 

After driving my CX pretty hard from Brampton back to Toronto (hard enough that the temperature gauge moved from dead center to a little higher than normal, but nothing crazy --- taking my foot off the gas returned it to normal ;), I found that my car wouldn't start anymore. It wouldn't even crank... I had to push start the car to get it going again.

So I get it home, I clean the battery terminals and the wire contacts... and boom, after some spark near the disty, it fires right back up.

Turned it off, came back the next day and it sparked near the disty again but wouldn't start. It would just crank/turn over but never start.. Battery voltage is 12.1-12.4Volts. I haven't tried jump starting with another battery... I suspect there's something else wrong here.

If the car works if I roll/push start it, I would suspect that fuel, air and spark are fine... What does that leave? starter?

What's a cheap way to isolate the problem?

Thanks guys.

main relay. prime the car and see if u can hear the fuel pump engage. usually main relays go in hot weather and espically in an older car.

I'm confirm tonight when I'm at home, but I'm 99% sure I can hear the pump when I turn the car to 'On'.

If the main relay is gone, will the car start if I push start it? Because I was able to get the car going again by doing that..

somtimes you get luckey and a **** relay would arm.

but if you push started it then its most likley a battery or alt issue.

**** relay? wtf?

What about starter? I heard someone also mention alternator issue.. I guess if I can jump start it using my other car I can rule out a starter issue and that leaves battery and alternator... I can swap in my other battery and if it doesn't start, that leaves alternator? Does that seem logical?

if worse comes to worse you can take out the alternator and battery and take it to part source and get em to test it for you for free. to find out whats bad before spending money.

no its not.. what the hell are you talking about. bump starting is a sign of a bad starter.

okay.. i just read your thread. Sounds like you either have a corroded starter ground or the soleniod wire is arcing somewhere. Check if you are getting battery voltage to the terminal on the starter (the stud and nut) thats constant power. If you have battery voltage thats good. Now pull out the soleniod wire (one thin wire) get a voltmeter, ground one probe, put the other probe in the wire and you should get battery voltage too WHEN THE CAR IS CRANKED, the rest of the time its 0v.

If that checks out. Get some jumper cables connect one side to the starter and the other to the battery neg. terminal so you are providing a ground for the starter.. and crank. If that doesnt work you got a pooched starter.

There is also a very easy test you can do using jumper cables, but I wouldnt do this if you arent mechanically inclined

take the distributor cap off too and take a gander in there if ish is sparking around the distributor

Awesome advice guys. I'm going to give this a shot tomorrow.. Will let you guys know. Thanks!

someones tampering with my posts.

great.. let us know.

If you cant figure it out and you are close to oakville, i wouldnt mind lending you a quick hand

Okay, I think it's a starter issue. I tested for voltage at the starter and it was there (I also sanded the contacts). I replaced a corroded grounding cable near the starter (on the tranny itself). I also grounded the nut on the soleniod to the ground wire I replaced on the tranny (using jumper cables) and cranked... nada. The engine turns but never starts.

I'm going to try to measure the battery voltage while someone cranks the car... The Haynes manual says if there's less than 9 volts and the cranking is slow, the starter motor is probably bad...

The close proximity of the starter and the disty leads me to believe it was the starter that was sparking/arcing last time I successfully started the car. I wonder if that was the starter on it's way out or an electrical problem? Is it safe to assume my starter is dead?

without actually having the car infront of me to check it out I can't say anything is carved in stone, but based on my expierence with eg's i'd say it's the starter. if it was the alt. then the car would stall out after killing the batt. if it's that batt then all the jump starting in the world wont work once the batts gone flat. if your grounds are good and theres no other wiring issues then what else is there?

plus I've noticed that when I get one honda in my shop for something i get lots more of that same year/model in for the same thing. last year i had several for rad work (you mentioned overheating I beat my car all day without any overheating, you may have an issue there aswell) this year I've had a few for starters

now your saying the engine turns but doesnt start and your trying to diagnos the starter?

Man.. take it to a shop, if the engine cranks its not a starting system problem.

Yeah, initially it wouldn't turn over or anything... But I managed to push start it and drive it home. Once at home, I cleaned all the battery contacts and after what seemed like a spark from the starter area, the car started right up. It did this a second time (Wanted to be sure I could turn it on again)... The next day it would only crank but not start.

Today, I replaced the starter and tried my other car's battery and same thing, it would just crank but never start. I'd rather not take this car to a mechanic because the car cost me next to nothing and I don't want to put too much money into it (I'd rather do the work myself).

So what else could there be? I replaced the tranny ground, I cleaned/sanded down the battery ground, cleaned the battery terminals, replaced the starter, getting 12V at the starter bolt, the engine cranks... I'm definitely getting fuel at the engine, no injector leakage... I can most likely push start it again and it would fire right up. I tried using my other car's battery and it just cranked a little faster, but never started up. Tried a few times...

Any suggestions?

well if its cranking, you have fuel only one thing missing, spark!!
check ur plugs ? distributer etc =p?

Pardon my ignorance, but if I had a problem with my plugs or distry, would the car start up and drive fine for 1hr after a push start? Not being a smart ass, just trying to rule out the plugs or disty before I get my hands dirty again ;)

well im just using deductive reasoning, you need 4 basic things of ignition right?

air, fuel, spark , compression

you said you have fuel, and air, unless you have a severly clogged up air filter

so last thing is spark, that could also be a wiring problem, etc,

my friends vx sometimes takes a minute of cranking to start, but runs fine when it starts, weird =p maybe you're lacking compression

i dunno im probably more of a newbie then u :D