HELP! DEAD CIVIC!

My 1994 Civic EX coupe died tonight. It was running fine for about half an
hour...then i turned it off for about 15 minutes...but it wouldn't restart.

The radio, lights and other electronics seem to be working fine. when i try to
start (position III) the car i can hear the starter faintly chug a couple of
times then i hear the relay switch/switches under the dashboard (on the left
side) start clicking like crazy. the engine is silent through all of this
(i.e. no cranking sounds).

My car is also equipped with a Crimestopper CJ9601 car alarm. the alarm would
kick in whenever the key was in position III.....and stop as soon as i put the
key back in position 0, I or II. i turned off the alarm at the backup battery
so it no longer goes off. .all i get now is the aforementioned chugs from the
starter and crazy relay clicking.

I've never had the car die like this. it's been reasonably well maintained and
has performed well (like most Civics). I'm hoping i can fix the problem on the
spot without having to get it towed and diagno$ed in a $hop.

thanks in advance for any help!

ress

 

If you can hear the starter, and that is fine, then I have one question:
When was the last time you replaced the timing belt?

--Monty
Visit the last oasis of sanity in Cyberspace:
www.sanitypages.com

 

Sounds like a dead starter to me. I just had to replace mine with same
symptoms as yours. I would hear the click but the engine won't spin. I took
out the starter and tested it and what do you know, it won't work right. The
problem was the bendix would come out and start spinning but it would
retract after about a second or even less. It has to stay out and keep
spinning. Another problem is if the bendix stays out and it spins but it
does so very slowly. Definitely a starter problem.

If the starter doesn't work at all it might be the solenoid. If the clicking
sound you heard was the solenoid clicking then it's the starter (motor). If
the starter motor doesn't turn at all, it could be either the starter or the
solenoid (I'd test the solenoid first).

As far as changing the starter it's a pretty trivial task. You might have to
remove some components that are getting in the way and unscrew. Replace with
new one and screw it back in. Then replace any components that you might've
removed. Best thing is to get a service manual for your civic and it will
tell you the detailed procedure in there.

Hope this helps.

--Viktor

 

=======

Since there's no history of acting up, it could well be your battery
terminals, or the grounding at the other end of your negative wire.
Clean everything with a wire bush, bathe in a mild baking soda
solution, rinse and coat with vaseline (the parts, not you) and
retighten everything.

'Curly'

 

When I had that clicking under the dash it was a drained battery - I
believe the clicking comes from the ECU. My battery had enough juice to
turn on minor lighting OK but when the starter solenoid clicked on, there
wasn't enough left to hold the relays on and they started clicking. My car
had sat for several weeks without moving but in your case I guess it could
be a bad alternator or maybe a bad connection, either at the battery or at
the other end of the battery cables... especially check the battery ground
cable. Maybe a jump-start would be enough to get you home.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

Also, if the starter is getting worn out, it can take more and more current
to start. Thus, any weakness in the battery will strand you. Check your
battery and connections/wires first. Clean up any corrosion. Get it charged
if necessary (or replace it if it is too old). Then you may need to get your
charging system checked, but I would certainly be tempted to replace the
starter (myself) than pay somebody to check the charging system. A new
starter won't hurt....

--
KWW
'65 Beetle (Jenny the IOC)
'64 Beetle (TBD the Blue Wave)

me??

 

Thanks for the tips. It turned out that i needed a new battery (the defective
battery was 4 years old). Hopefully that will be the end of it (for a while
anyway).

cheers

 

I'd go with the possible dead battery too. The difference between a
good battery and a bad one is that you can charge a bad battery all
day long and it won't hold the charge...you're just wasting gas. I
learned this with my 72 Road Runner back in 1974. A good battery will
take a charge and hold it. I know those Honda batteries are shaped
wierd, but if you can locate something that will fit into the area for
testing, try swapping batteries around; cheap easy and quick. The
other way is to use a Hydrometer to test the specific gravity of the
electrolyte inside the battery...if you have a sealed no-maint battery
good luck trying to do it.

I've had starter solenoids go bad in my Plymouths too; from arcing and
terminal corrosion where the contacts meet. All I had to do was take
the start motor solonoid apart and file the copper contacts down
smooth and clean; presto, saved $$ on a rebuild stater motor. That
was for a 72 Plymouth, not sure how easy it is to do with a Honda.

From a mechanic perspective, working on the older 60's and 70's cars
with those big 440 motors was easy compared to the angony of trying to
work on today's computerized products.

Example: try taking off a stubborn rusted CV halfshaft nut; even with
a cheater pipe...I've split a half-inch drive breaker bar in half
doing that - solid forged steel. Kind of trying to get those old VW
pancake air-cooled engine HUGE flywheel nut off..you remember
those..the SINGLE HUGE flywheel nut requiring a special socket and a
cheater pipe about 12 feet long to get enough torque behind you.

There's not enough room in the engine compartments of today's cars to
maneuver around in. Try to take a timing belt off a 90 Camry.

Also...you may consider that your ALARM SYSTEM may be cutting the
voltage to the stater. I don't have any expertise in that area. My
wife's Saturn kept stranding her at work. It had one of those
aftermarket alarm systems that cut out the starter voltage. After
replacing the diodes in the alternator TWICE, which also caused her to
have a dead battery and also stranded her at inconvenient places; I
let that plastic piece of transportation go.

Try testing:
1: Battery
2: Starter Motor and/or solenoid and/or relay
3: Alarm system cutting out voltage

 

Those small size batteries that fir into recent year Honda's just
don't seem to last very long. About 1.5-2 years for me, for both my
wife's and my Honda's.
I've had a battery go bad during a visit to my brother's house;
causing a hasty and unexpected trip to to auto parts down the street.
No alert or warning indications that it was going bad. The recent
battery expenditure was a few weeks ago for the 2000 Civic. At least
this time it gave me a few days of slow cranking warning before it
went totally bad.

Don't know how you got 4 years out of a Honda-sized battery...

 

I just did a battery change on my '94 Integra. it was cranking slowly.
That's the first change on that car. They used to last a long time!

 

Not all Hondas have "small size batteries".

I got 71/2 years out of a battery in a '92 Integra and am at 51/2 years on
a '99 Integra. Are you sure you're not abusing your batteries? A few
careful precautions can make a big difference to the life of a battery...
like making sure all accesories are off before turning the ignition off;
applying loads only when the engine is running.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

....

Battery in my 98 Accord is still going strong at 6 years/90K. The one in
my 87 lasted 7 years. Well the first one (Delco) lasted less than a year,
and Honda replaced it with a Honda labeled one for free.

 

Four years seems to be pretty common in batteries in general. I just
replaced my 2000 Passat battery and they told me that was fairly
common. My daughter's 4 year old battery also went this winter.

The battery in my 03 Accord doesn't strike me as small. ???

 

My little Civic battery lasted for 7 years. It still cranked perfectly
but acid seeping out around the positive terminal was damaging the car.

The key to long battery life is to check the fluid levels twice a year,
fill with only distilled water, and avoid leaving the battery without a
full charge.

 

I agree with that. I drove home (about 20 miles), pulled into the
driveway, turned off the car, went in, was handed a grocery list, went
outside, and nothing, no tick/click, no radio, no nothing. Wierd. The
tester at autozone took less than 10 seconds to say it was bad. On the
other hand, it was a 4 year old battery.

Nate

 

They're all made by Johnson Controls anyway, it really doesn't make a
difference. What you want to look for is CCA.

Nate

 

Depends where you live. Heat is the killer and the zero-maintenance thing
doesn't help there. In the North East I've never gotten less than 6 years
out of a factory battery. It's documented that most batteries returned for
recycling are actually still good.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

Read a little and learn about batteries. They are *not* all made by
Johnson Controls and the distribution system - how long it sits on the
shelf self-discharging - is just as important as who made it. Those which
are supplied to retail dry, where the retailer adds the acid, are usually
screwed up by the wrong acid strength.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

I live in the northeast and routinely change the battery after 5 years
max. I just look at it as preventive maintenance. Batteries just up
and die without alot of warning IME. Corrosive particulate falls out
of the battery acid and lodges between the plates until a short
develops and then the battery is history.

Jim