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RE: Ask the Car Guy @socky Mar 16, 2019
I have a 2001 Honda civic, automatic transmission. It has a no crank problem.
When I turn the key all the electronics work, I can hear the fuel pump engage. But the motor dosen't crank over.
Jumpstarting and charging to batter full did not work.
I want to test the starter relay. Search the internet to find were it is, but didn't find the answer. I think I found it behind the clove box.
If I'm right it's the black one to the right? I pulled on it hard and it didn't come out. I didn't want to brake anything so I stopped. It should just pull out right? No clips holding it? I can't see the bottom of the relay because of were it is sitting.
Any other ideas? Starter may be?
Thanks
OK, Thanks for asking a car question.
Before you go and start troubleshooting the start circuit, check the owner's manual to find the start fuse. Check to see if that fuse is good.
There is an easy way for most any car to test the starter. First make sure the car is in park with the emergency brake on. Most all starters will have only two wires. One great big wire that comes from the battery and one tiny wire from the start circuit. Remove the tiny wire from the starter. Connect a circuit tester to the tiny wire and the other lead of the circuit tester to ground on the motor or frame. Turn the ignition switch to start to see if you get power at the tiny wire. If no power, then there is something wrong with the ignition circuit.
If you don't have a circuit tester there is another way. This also verifies if the starter will work. Make a jumper wire to jump the two terminals on the starter to bypass the ignition circuit. Make sure the car is in park, the emergency brake on, and turn on the ignition switch (on, but not to start). Make sure the tiny wire is removed from the starter. Now take a simple piece of scrap wire and jumper the two terminals on the starter itself. There will be a spark when you do this which is normal. Don't freak out when you see it. If the car starts, then the starter is good. If the car doesn't start, then the starter is bad.
If the car starts by jumping the two connectors on the starter, then you will need to troubleshoot the start circuit. Go ahead and reconnect the tiny wire on the starter. The relay should come out and may be stiff since there are several contacts on the relay. Sorry, I don't know the location of the start relay without a repair manual. Start relays are usually in the fuse panel on the driver's side or in a secondary panel in the engine bay. I haven't ever seen a start relay behind a glove box. You are probably looking in the wrong place.
The start circuit consists of a relay, ignition switch, fuse, and possibly multiple safety lock out switches. Some cars have many safety lock outs. Your car has a park/neutral safety switch which prevents the car from starting unless it is in park or in neutral. You might want to check the wires for defects at the safety switch or the switch itself could be malfunctioning.
Good luck!
I tested the battery and the cables with a multimeter. The battery and connections are all good. I used a jump wire on the starter and it started fine. Sence I did get it to start once on it's own, it can't be a fuse. Any ideas?
Sounds like you have a loose connection somewhere. Aparently you worked on 2 connections.
Check to see if the connections are clean and free from corrosion.
Sometimes the battery connector can be tightened all the way but not actually tight on the battery terminals. The battery terminal clamp would actually be bottomed out. There are shims just for fixing this problem.
Chances are that it is not the fuse. Instead, the relay could be intermittent or the starter could be intermittent. Fuses are not intermittent. They are either not burnt or burnt.
Well I did get it started once. I wiggled the battery ground cable around. The car started. I turned it off and tried again and nothing. I cleaned and tightened both battery cables and nothing. Any Ideas?
Ok now that I reconnected that small wire on the starter, the car is starting fine now. But for how long is the question.