prowheelie92

hello guys so my car basically shut off while driving so i pulled over on the road. i tried turning on my car after that i got no crank. my uncle came and hit the starter couple times and it started right up. i went to autozone got it checked out and everthing turned out fine the alternator readings were 13.99 volts and 13.75 volts with load. the dealership also said it was the starter but some people say the starters job is only to turn the car on. then why did the car turn off? HELPPPPPP

prowheelie92

the battery if fine btw!

spaceboy

Does your battery light come up? If so, then it's the alternator

imakeholesinu

If your uncle tapped the starter the car started again I would say that is a starter issue. I don't think the issue of the car shutting off is related to an alternator or battery issue. That sounds like an entirely different issue with the vehicle.

ZOMGVTEK

You really sound like you should be taking the car to the dealer.

If the battery was OK after the car 'shut off', and the vehicle would not start, its potentially the starters fault there. However, this would mean you have two problems. The starter does only start the car, but if the car didn't start, and tapping on the starter fixed the problem, typically this indicates the starter is at fault.

The alternator would only allow the battery to discharge, which would eventually make the car stall and not restart. However, tapping the starter would do absolutely nothing, and it should be EXCEEDINGLY obvious your car has no power since absolutely nothing electric would work. It would need a jump start to get going again.

Did you hear a clicking sound when you turned the key? Just saying the car wouldn't restart means very little. Was it cranking? If so, it could be something like a main relay or fuel pump. If it wasn't cranking, or clicking, it could be something more involved thats very hard to diagnose over the internet. If it was clicking and not cranking, its probably just a bad starter, which does not explain why it died to begin with.

prowheelie92

okay so today i replaced the starter. we tried turning on the car while we had jumper cables attached. the car still didnt start. whenever i try turning on the car i hear a buzzing sound and everything flickers on the dash. the car dosent crank at all.also the buzzing sound is coming from the fuses under the steering and the fuses in the engine bay. when you also touch the fuse boxes you feel it vibrating. i uploaded a video on youtube which shows what happens when i try turning on the car http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOiTU...ature=youtu.be
any help will be greatly appreciated thanks!

RobertTL

Did you use an aftermarket starter or an OEM? We replaced the starter on my son's Maxima with an aftermarket unit and it still wouldn't start, got a bad starer from Auto Barn...the second one was fine.

prowheelie92

i used a aftermarket starter its a worldwide starter with lifetime replacement. but i doubt its the starter because of the buzzing and the buzzing was there before we changed the starter too. i guess i changed the starter for no reason

ZOMGVTEK

Sounds like a relay under the dash is 'on the edge', which is really odd. The only real reason I would think this noise could occur, is if a relay for some sort of current limit circuit thats powered by the same circuit has a 'short' or excessive load on the other end. Every time the relay connects the 'short' causes the voltage powering the relay to drop enough to no longer hold the contact down, breaking the 'short', causing the voltage to shoot up enough for the relay to close again. It's basically oscillating as fast as it mechanically can.

Think you can try and locate where the buzzing sound is coming from? Is it under the driver side of the dash? Can you pinpoint the exact relay? You would typically be able to feel the relay pulsating as it buzzes, just put your finger on it.

The relay itself might be OK. Well, it might be a bit warn after testing with the thing buzzing away, but it might not be the root of the problem. What's causing this to occur is the real issue. I'm not sure if this is a 'common' problem on this car or not. Did you do anything to the car recently that might have resulted in a pinched wire? Is the small wire going to the starter solenoid in good shape? Can you hear the fuel pump run for a few seconds when you turn the ignition on? Do you have a volt meter?

prowheelie92

first off i would like to thank you and i greatly appreciate your help i cant check everything right now but i will check the small wire tommorow and i do have a volt meter also i think while the car was on my cousin accidentally took off the terminal for a split second. the vibration feels like its coming from the fuse box under the dash at the driver side door and the fuse box in the engine bay. i do not hear the fuel pump running either i just hear buzzing(im pretty sure can confirm tomm)

pohljm

That is typically a battery issue. Not enough current to start the car. Did you have the jumper cables both attached to the battery or just the positive and then grounded to the chassis/motor?

prowheelie92

i didnt ground it to the chassis/motor but i did just connect the cables just to the battery i will try connecting it to the ground again. but i doubt it will work the battery is fairly new

ZOMGVTEK

The battery does not appear to be at fault since the cabin electronics look like they are functioning as normal when the issue is occurring.

You can turn the dome lights on and see if they dim significantly while you try to crank the engine.

johnny3

Dirty batt. cable to posts or bad battery.

prowheelie92

not even a little bit. everything works perfectly fine with no diming. do you think if the relay is oscillating changing the relay will fix the problem?

sixsixfour

gonna have to agree. that vid shows exactly what happened to me when the factory Acura battery took a dump. down to the last detail.

I say bad battery, or bad/corroded battery terminals, assuming everything else is in good working order.

sixsixfour

when you say "fairly new", how "new" is it exactly? one month? 6 months? 1 year? more?

just try putting on a fresh battery and see what happens.

prowheelie92

nope just checked the battery in fact i feel too relays vibrating. one relay is under the dash and one in the engine bay. possibly changing the relays will help??!?!?

pohljm

bad battery! you may believe that because the lights dont dim its ok, but thats not the case with this car.

egibree

any updates on this in having a similar issue

dcmodels

And have you verified that your battery is GOOD, as suggested several times in this thread? Here is how to do that:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14546038#post14546038

and have you verified that the alternator is GOOD? again, as suggested in this thread.

To get some help, report what you have already tried, and which systems you have verified as GOOD, and how you did that.

07 TL Type S

Your starter and alternator are fine. It is the fuel pump relay located under the hood. My relay was pink and said 30 on it. Honda has had many issues with their faulty relays and the solder points inside and when it sits in the sun on a hot day it stops working so replace that and your issue should go away.

dcmodels

Since no analysis is offered, this is only a guess - and if someone wants to just replace parts, then OK ... switching the FP replay with another one of the same type might be a reasonable test.

Certainly Honda has had *some* problems with *some* relays - is there any specific info you can offer concerning the fuel pump relay? what was the specific issue with your own Fuel Pump Relay?

If poster EGIBREE wants to offer more info, perhaps someone can help them, assuming that this comment is directed to poster EGIBREE.

A reasoned analysis and approach to a problem will generally yield the quickest solution. JMO

egibree

i have started a thread outlining the issues im having as well as steps i have taken to try to rectify the issues.....batter starter alt. all ok....just brought the car to the shop..........

07 TL Type S

I mispoke when I said it is the relay under the hood because it could be also be under the steering column on the driver door side(I believe), there are many threads on this site where people are having the exact same issues when their car is sitting under the sun on a hot day the sodering points on the cheap crappy Honda relays malfunction and that is why you hear clicking when you attempt to crank but all lights and windows etc.. work without issue. As others have alread suggested ruling out the battery being the problem is the obvious 1st step but I am experiencing identical issues that prowheelie is dealing with. If you put the key into the 2nd position short of cranking and dont hear the fuel pump prime then i'd be 90% sure the relay is your issue.

Slick Rik

I had the same issue before, replaced starter and still wouldn't start. it ended up being the wires that led from the starter to the positive terminal were corroded. I also replaced the wire from the fuse box to the positive terminal. so check for any corrosion around the battery and any wires running from the battery.

egibree

any isuggestions as to inexpensive sites to get the main relay or fuel pump relay??

Acura_Swag

Wow this seems to be a very common problem with our cars not starting randomly

INU2XS

This does not fit your exact experience but does reveal a car starting issue. I parked my 2005 RL and returned 10 minutes later to find my door handle would not unlock the door. I gained access with the key fob key. I tried to start the car and only heard the clicking sound. I used jumper cables to start the car from another vehicle and it did not work. I towed the RL to the dealer and they said it would not start because of my electric door handle. New one on me and a couple hundred dollars later the car had no issues.

NorCoTL

Hey folks,

First post on this forum and I thought I would add on to this thread with a similar issue.

I have a 2005 TL, Base with Navi, 135,XXX miles. I've put 30,000 of those miles on the car in the last year and a half since I bought it. It has been an extremely reliable car up to this point.

After sitting for about 36 hours, the battery was drained almost flat. Before I parked the car, I had just finished a 120 mile drive and all systems were working correctly. I used a boost box to start it and then let it run for about 20 minutes then took it on a short drive. Before I shut it off, everything electrical seemed to still be working correctly. No slow turn signals, no dimming lights. I shut the car off, manually turned on the dome light and restarted the car, the dome light didn't even flutter and was still nice and bright. The next morning the battery was dead again.

Thinking the battery may have dropped a cell and couldn't handle the cold cranking amp draw (though that didn't explain the drain) I got down to the local NAPA and picked up a new battery. Checked cables on the old battery and they were nice and tight. They were also free from any corrosion. Dropped the new battery in and all systems were go, car started immediately on the first twist of the key. Reset the navi and the radio and all was good. The car started immediately this morning and showed no problems on my 40 minute drive to work. All lights were functioning and were nice and bright when I arrived at work.

Went out at noon to run an errand and it would not start. Power to all systems but when the key is twisted to start nothing happens... just silence.

My first round of thoughts are that the battery (replaced yesterday) and alternator are fine (I actually doubt the old battery is dead now and just flat, needing a good charge). Nothing of the driving behavior indicated a bad alternator or really a bad battery. Especially since everything powers up just fine.

My second round of thoughts, on what else immediately jumps to mind after battery and alternator are ruled out, jump to starter relay, starter/solenoid, ignition switch. Does this sound correct to you folks?

I'll have to leave the car overnight and I'll bring my meter back with me in the morning. Hopefully I have given enough background information and basic troubleshooting to cover most basic responses. If not, just let me know. From several other threads, the starter jumps out as the #1 culprit but would a bad starter actually drain a battery? I have not experienced that sort of failure before with other vehicles... not to say that it couldn't happen though.

Help and suggestions much appreciated...

thoiboi

1. Welcome
2. Search, many many threads on battery drain issues.
3. Don't bump old threads, start your own (but do #2 first prior to starting new threads)
4. Might be your HFL unit draining. #2 would have yielded MANY threads regarding the HandsFreeLink unit draining the battery.

NorCoTL

Thanks for the welcome...

I've actually read several threads on the HFL and don't recall the battery draining issue in connection to the HFL on the threads that I read, can't say that I read them all though. My HFL is not working and I have been planning on replacing it. My HFL has not worked for 9 months now and the battery drain was only recent.

The battery drain was more apparent on the old battery and directly preceded the no start issue with the new battery, so far the new battery is holding its charge just fine, the car just won't start.

I'll start a new thread though...

k5gsxr1000

was this problem ever fixed and what was done my car is doing it now and im stuck trying to figure it out

razo26

i would also like to know if this has been fixed? im having the same problem car wont start sometimes. ive changed the battery, positive battery cable, starter relay and even a new starter. no clicks what so ever just buzzing sound when turning the key....next step is ignition switch, so if anyone can give me some more insight on this let me know

RicanHavok

If your car is cutting off while driving I would say take your car to somewhere like Advance Auto Parts who does free starting/charging system analysis. Usually the culprit is a bad alternator (whether it be the diode or regulator). Once the car starts its almost as if the battery isnt even there. You can even disconnect it and the car should still run (Wouldnt recommend it tho). If your hearing a buzzing noise from the fuse box, I would check the fuel pump relay. As someone mentioned previously, if you have a FP relay on the fritz it can definitely cause intermittent starting issues.

thegipper

Bad battery, ground or corroded terminals has my vote.

Just because the interior lights/dash turn on doesn't mean squat.

It takes way more power to turn the car over then it does to keep those lights on.

Easiest way to rule out the battery is to put a known good one in it and see what happens. If it still doesn't start, check the grounds on the car. A corroded terminal or ground will give you the exact symptoms you are experiencing.

thegipper

Did you check your grounds? Both the wire and the physical grounding location?

Sometimes the terminal will look fine but if you pull back the insulation, the corrosion will be up into the wire.

You would be surprised how important a good clean ground is on any electrical component.

PS for everyone who says "my car wont start", you HAVE to be more descriptive then that. Is the car cranking over? Is it cranking over but won't fire up? Is it just clicking or making no noise at all.

These details are critical in pin pointing potential problems. Don't ever just say "my car won't start" without stating what it is or isn't doing. Unless you don't actually want us to help.