Hello, new to this forum. Have 96 TL 2.5. Coming from the great white north, car has automatic starter for all those days you want the car nice and warm before venturing out. Here’s my problem. Car starts and runs when I use the automatic starter. To drive it you need to put the key in the ignition and turn it to second position. This works fine and off I go on my merry way. However, when I try to start the car with the key the starter won't crank when I get to 3rd position. So the starter is fine because the autostarter will start it. The ignition is fine because I just changed it for another problem (which I believe led to this one) and it has full continuity and voltage running through it when I move key to 3rd position. All my fuses are fine. So it seems to me that the current isn't getting from the ignition to the starter. An old Acura shop manual mentions the "safety neutral switch". Does this sound like a plausible explanation and how do I get to it if so? Are there any relays between the ignition and the starter and how would I find it and test it?

Thanks

 

are you hearing a click click sound? when tryin to start it?


if you start with a remote starter , you put it in the 2nd postion.

 

I get absolutely nothing. But like I said, the starter obviously works since the autostarter has no problem starting the car. The autostarter provides an alternate source of power to the starter rather than the ignition. I think like most autostarters, you can't actually do anything with the car unless the key is put in the ignition and then turned to the 2nd position. Otherwise, the second you touch anything other than heater/ac or windows tha car shuts down.

 

I Got Ur Point. So U Havent Been Using The Key To Start..u Been Using The Remote Starter..try Checking You Fuse Box And Look For The Ignition Fuse See If It Broke Or Not I Would Check All Fuses

 

Your energy circuit for the third position has been interrupted somewhere along the line. I would guess it has something to do with the remote start wiring. You will have to trace it out to make sure that everything is wired correctly. Good luck as I don't envy you doing the trace out on this.

 

The reason I don't think the autostarter is interrupting my energy circuit is that my original problem was a complete loss of power while driving. Thankfully I was on a quiet suburban street and not one of the major highways around here. I figured out my ignition switch gave out on me and while I was testing it the car was always cranking just fine when I got to third position. However, as I kept testing the old switch, at one point the car completely stopped cranking as well when turned to III. At the time I figured the switch gave out at position III as well but after installing the new switch everything else is fine except for the cranking. So I figured that the excessive testing of the old switch may have blown some active component other than a fuse. That's why I'm asking if there are any relays or safety switches between ignition and starter. I'd rather rule that out before doing what duck97 suggests as I agree that's not a pleasant thought.
Thanks

 

Problem solved. Turns out the auto starter had a second kill switch that I never knew existed (i bought the car second hand when it was a year old and original owner only showed me the 1 switch). While I was working under the dash my head must have put just the right amount of pressure on the carpeting by the center console and it tripped the switch. Like I said, never even knew it was there and the manufacturer had told me they hadn't built 2-switch systems since the early 90's. It was only after I called the manufacturer again that they said my problem was consistent with a ignition kill relay problem.

Thanks for you help.
Cost: $40 for ignition switch to fix original problem (real easy to change 30 minutes max) and probably 4 hours of my own time to figure out the following cranking mystery.