It's happened on 3 occasions so far. Push the clutch in to start and no crank, let go of key and try again and cranks over normally. All dash lights go on normal.

The 3 times all happened after driving and getting back in the car such as leaving a gas station. Started the car dozens of times trying to duplicate the problem, but cranks over just fine like nothing wrong.

Don't want to bring it in since you cannot duplicate the problem on the spot and don't want to leave it since they will drive it and look for an excuse to move it around the lot.

Any ideas what can be wrong? Not fuses since it's fine 99% of the time. Starter itself works and sounds fine. Checked all grounds.

 

Might be related to the clutch safety switch which is near the top of the pedal assembly. Maybe you accidently kicked it or it loosened up, I'd check that connection as a start.

 

That's what I was going to suggest. Another one to check is to make sure your negative battery cable has a good connection. Recently my girlfriends accord was in the body shop and she had a similar problem after we got it back. 95% of the time the car would start fine every once in a while it wouldn't turn over, all the lights still came on but it wouldn't turn over. I opened the hood and the negative cable was not even close to being tight. Tightened it up and the problem was gone.

 

Just checked it. Looks fine. I though maybe I did not have the clutch fully depressed when starting, but the 3rd time it happened I was paying attention to every little detail when starting it up.

 

Could be the key and ignition not contacting. Had this happen to my Prelude like 3 times too.

 

maybe a minor clutch spring problem?

 

It definitely sounds like the clutch switch.. even though it looks like its making contact, it may be misaligned.. I somehow managed to jar the connector and my car wouldnt start.. I was dumbfounded until I looked at the status of the "switches" in one of my data logs in the UTEC and discovered that the clutch switch wasn't going on or off.. I climbed underneath the dash and everything looked normal.. I played with the switch and connector and that looked normal.. Then I saw a second connector a little further off, and discovered that wasn't fully connected and that was what came loose. Its NOT in an easy place to get at so I don't know what happened.. but I reconnected it and it was fine afterward.

Not sure your having the same problem.. but take a close look and make sure everything is where its supposed to be..

Best of luck, I feel for you..

 

Thanks guys. I will double check the connections.

One question. Can it be the starter solenoid or is that something that either works or not works meaning if it's broken, it's broken and can't be an intermittent problem?

If I fail to find the problem, do you suggest I just leave it be and wait and see if the problem worsens, then take it in? Oops, two questions.

The worst that could happen is the car fails to crank and wont start. Then I have a reason to bring it in. I'd hate to worry about warantee denials even though this has nothing to do with bolt on mods.

As of now, I cannot duplicate the problem even after numerous starts today. But yesterday, it happened once, then I reset the ignition and she cranked and started right up. I hate car trouble that cannot be diagnosed due to inconsistent symptoms.

 

It's probably the chip in the key itself. Make sure you don't get the keyring up on top of the key when it is in the ignition. It uses a radio waves or something of the like to communicate. One thing to try is your other key and see if it happens again or goes away. The owners manual has information about this type of condition.

 

Interesting observation. I read the manual about the key and what not to do. I cannot confirm if this is the problem, but no issues today. I just don't want to start the car numerous times to see if it will happen again.

Back to my last question about the solenoid. Can it be bad or is that something that goes bad and will not work any longer?

 

usually when they are going bad they will do it more often then just 3 times over a period of time. From what it sounds this is not a common thing, it has just happened a couple times.

 

Okay. UPDATE.

A few weeks ago I dropped a 12 mm socket in my engine bay and it never fell to the bottom tray. I looked and looked but did not remove the under tray to investigate further.

Well, tonite I decided to look better. i know the socket fell in the turbo region where ala, the starter is. Well, I found it wedged in between the starter protection shield cover and the solenoid harness. Apparently is was shorting out on occasion. Upon further inspection, the socket "welded" itself to the shield cover. I guess it was "arching". It had some burnt spots on it and melted in some spots.

i got it out and am in the process of putting the tray back on. I'm 100% sure this was the problem.

Do you guys think I did any damage to the starter itself? It looks fine and the wire harness looks fine.

Thanks for all your help.

 

Thats a new one. It should be fine though. It would probably pop a fuse or a relay before it would kill the starter. As long as it starts back up you should be good to go.

 

That's one in a million chance type of things. F ucking crazy.

 

Here look at the socket. Pic not so good. Lesson learned. Be careful not to drop tools into the engine. The way the starter shield is situated, it acted like a mitt and caught the falling socket.