Hello,

I am hoping someone can help me out of a jam. Due to all the great advice on the board I have done a good job addressing issues and keeping my '09 RDX Tech running to 130K miles.

Today, I was replacing the starter cut relay in the hopes of addressing an issue with occasional intermittent starting troubles (usually remedied by simply waiting and trying again). Foolishly I did not disconnect the battery before changing out the relay.

While pulling the relay, my tool slipped and hit the blue wire right under the starter cut relay. I saw a spark.

I went ahead and replaced the starter cut relay anyway. When I went to restart the vehicle - no start at all. Would not even struggle to turn over. No clicking - simply full lights on dash and ignition beep.

I went through and checked continuity against all the fuses I could (small ones). All that I could check in main under hood box were fine. In the under-dash in-cabin (MICU) box most registered continuity to car, but some did not - including entire second row - #24-33 and some of the third row. I am not sure if this is normal with car not started. I tried to pull a few to visually look and they looked normal.

Of course I cannot start car and even easily get out of garage to have someone else look. Any ideas as to what I might have fried and what I might replace? Could I have fried something on a board or circuit in the MICU itself (not even sure how to remove it to examine).

Any generous help would be most appreciated.

Thank you.

 

Yo,

Ive done something similar on another vehicle. It's more than likely one of the larger power fuses. There should be an 80 amp and 50 amp attached to each other, one power, one ignition. There's another one that contains two powers, a 100 amp main fuse and 30 amp for the awd. Both of these are in the underhood fuse box. Swap those out and you should be good to go.

Let me know!
-Shane

 

Shane and all,

Thanks - no love. Pulled and checked all fuses - visually and measured no ohm resistance on all combinations of terminals on multi block fuses. Verified continuity.

Replaced ignition switch / steering switch w/ new aftermarket switch. Verified operation of normally open starter cut relay.

Jumped starter solenoid to battery positive and starter cranks.

I am about out of ideas. Is there some weird Honda / Acura security / safety cutout or control module I need to re-enable? Maybe I fried something larger like this?

Tried forcing to neutral and starting in case issue with transmission position sensor. Did not do full diagnostic on trans position sensor.

Still power to dash and interior lights. No click to starter - don't think I heard fuel pump prime. Can't use my OBD scanner to pull codes because I can't start.

I suppose now plan is to either tow to Acura dealership (maybe advantage of Honda/Acura tools, diagnostics and parts) - but furthest, my close local guy that I trust who may not have this stuff - or to the Honda dealer - medium distance compromise. Open to suggestions on that or the underlying issue.

Thanks again.

 

Well - got to thinking that my situation just couldn't be right and that Shane had to be right. Pulled multi block fuses again to check. Found break in the 80 / 50 fuse (which includes ignition circuit). What happens is the middle terminal prong is not solidly connected to plastic fuse body and when there is a break, is loose and wiggles a bit laterally. When I checked before - and at first the second time - it was in position such that I found no resistance. When wiggled- the connection would break. Hence the false positive on checking fuse integrity.

New fuse - back in business.

Many thanks to Shane and forum and hopefully this tip might help others.

 

Glad to hear it!

I was looking at wiring diagrams for the starting system and no other reasoning was making sense for the situation. Happy to hear everything is running normally, and if all else fails, always pull that battery connector off when it comes to messing with electrical items.

Cheers
-Shane

 

OP: that relay was a PITA to take out. Did it help with your intermittent start issues?