I am not a mechanic by any means, I went out to start my car, it will turn over, but will not start, so if it will turn over, that kind of rules out the battery correct?

Has anyone else had or have this issue?

Sincerely,
TSX trapped in the garage...lol

 

Is turning over as fast as it usually does? If so, you're right, probably not the battery. Check the obvious stuff next. Is it out of gas? I know it sounds like a dumb question but it happens. Been messing with anything under the hood recently?

 

LOL! no it has gas...We added a line driver for the aftermarket amps and subs, but nothing under the hood. I was thinking at first the line driver stayed on and is slowly draining the battery, but it turns over fine....hmmm

 

I'm not sure what a line driver is. It sounds like it's a way of pulling power from somewhere, correct? How is it hooked up? The first thing I would try is disconnecting that since the car worked before that was installed.

 

Is your car a manual? I don't know but when my alarm was installed, the car turned over but it wouldn't start. Well I later found out that I have to turn the key to position 2, then step on the clutch and start the car. Before, I could just step onto the clutch the first thing and then start the car. Well atleast that's what happened to me. I don't know what really happened. My best guess would be my remote start with the clutch bypass. This might not even apply to you but try different patterns in starting your car.

 

When you turn the key to position 2, can you hear the fuel pump pressurizing the system?

 

try another. Idk about our cars, but on my other cars ive had keys die. Stuck in the second key and it started fine!

 

I guess thats what the sound is. Don't know much about cars but when I put the key to position 2, theres a subtle wining sound that last about 2 seconds. So maybe that is the fuel pump. Why you ask?

 

Yes that's the fuel pump. He was trying to determine if it is running or not, which it is.

 

Hm you know what, I think heavyduty was asking the OP that question, not me. Sorry for the confusion.

 

Edit for MDK: Yes, I was posting to the OP. I didn't realize you weren't the OP for a minute.

The post above about the key is a good idea, too. Try your 2nd key or valet key to see if it does start.

I was asking about the fuel pump because...no fuel, no spark, no fire. I had a couple of cars that would occasionally get the fuel pump cutoff switch engaged if something was thrown in the trunk just right. It's a safety switch that cuts off power to the fuel pump if the car is involved in an accident or is inverted (on it's roof.)

Two or three times on two different cars I would trip the switch just by throwing golf clubs or whatever in the trunk. If you hear it priming, that's probably not it. I'd try the other key.

 

If the key is good, you'll see the green key symbol flashing on the dash when the key is in the ignition.

 

Thanks for your assistance with this issue, The line driver-increases imput voltage to the amp, but I checked that, and there was not any power to it that would potentially drain the battery.

Well 4 hours later, I walked out to the garage, took the key out of the ignition, and reinserted the key...and the m#(*%($f#)(E$% started...wtf? lol!

So I guess it was a fluke..WTH?

We put a meter on the battery, thinking the alternator was bad...and the meter read 14 with everything on and running, so I guess this was just a fluke..

Thanks again for everyone offering suggestions.

 

id watch that key. that is EXACTLY how my others went. it would work some times and others not.

 

Feck...mental note, carry valet key on keychain, geezus!

 

This is probably not the same issue, but this weekend I had 2 incidents, where I tried to start the car, and it sounded like it started but then instantly died out.

The first incident, I had the low fuel light on, so I thought I didn't let the fuel pump prime enough or it might be real cold and the battery might not have enough cranking power to get the motor going, car started on the 3rd try.

The following day, with a full tank of gas, and the weather at 40 degrees about, the car did the same thing, this time it started on the second try.

Not sure what is going on, but I am going to keep my eye on it, it very well could be the key I suppose.....I have not found a pattern yet but I thought it was odd to have starting problems with an 09 car with only 3200 miles on it.

 

Mine has done that in the past as well, I thought maybe because I only drive it once or twice a week, and I have a 1000 watt amp in the trunk, I am going to keep an eye on it to see if there is a pattern.

 

That's interesting, I had a problem with am aftermarket amp draining the battery in previous cars, but this TSX 100% stock.

Another note, I never start the car with the headlights on or on auto, so there really isn't any draw. And I usually try to let the fuel pump prime, before starting, but in those two incidents I just started the car without waiting, so maybe that had something to do with it.

When I had the 3G TL, I noticed that car started slower than my previous Integra, so when I read into that, I read somewhere that it was designed to start slower so that is can do so with minimal emission release.......something to do with starting timing, not sure how true that is, but maybe that is the cause? Anyway, I will keep an eye and report back.

 

^^ The TSX does something similar. It will always turn over a few times before it even tries to start. I don't think the injectors even open until the engine has turned over a few times. It's all about emissions.

 

Hey guys... I have had this problem 3 times already. I would turn the key and it would just keep "trying" to start. Then, for some reason.. it'll "cough" and barely start up. I've brought it to the dealer, and they said it was fine; they said it's the cold weather. However, it was a sunny day one morning, warm and everything. I attempted to turn on the car, and I had that problem, (3rd time). Any suggestions?

 

I had the same thing happen this past weekend. I turned the key and the engine turned over strong but it didn't fire up. Tried the same thing but it coughed and died out. Third I turned the key to the middle position , paused for a second to listen for the fuel pump to prime (you will hear a faint whirrling sound for a second and then a faint click, thats the fuel pump priming), and then started and it fired right up.

I suspect that the fuel pump isn't fully primed or not providing enough pressure when you crank the key to the start position from a cold start (in warm and cold climates, the engine is still relatively cold compared to the running temperature). The battery is trying to crank over the engine AND prime the pump at the same time. The starter motor is going to draw more power than the smaller fuel pump so the fuel pump will suffer.

We noticed this same issue when I was in school building Formula SAE racecars especially when the fuel level was low. We just hit the main power switched and just waited a sec before hitting the start button. I guess a battery with better cold cranking amps would help out to provide enough power to the starter motor without starving the fuel pump. On our SAE cars, we used small batteries to save weight so just waiting for the fuel pump to prime was the easy and most lightweight solution.

 

I've had the same problem as well. Glad to know it's not just me. It happened to me for the third time yesterday (Car's only 2 months old since I've had it). It took a few tries before it would finally start. Could it be the cold/rain weather we recently just had? My car only has 1400 miles. My previous car was an 08 Accord with 20k miles and it never had this problem. I'm not a mechanic by all means and I'm kinda worried being this is an '09. Definitely gonna keep my eye on this problem.

 

I honestly dislike the fact how the 09' TSX starts up.

I use to drive an 07' TL and with just one twist of the key/ignition the car automatically turns on without even trying. I expected the same in a 09' TSX, but drivers (Me) have to hold the key in place for the vehicle to fire up as if it was my first car which was a 97' Civic.

 

Do you have a bunch of crap on your key ring? I wonder if the immobilizer is having trouble communicating with the chip in your key and cutting out the fuel/start.

 

Sorry to dig up an old thread. This just happened to me today. I had many of the symptoms reported here (barely two months old, 1800 miles). I tried to start the car in the afternoon (it started in the morning) and it sounded like it was going to catch, but the darn thing just wouldn't. All the instruments were on, lights, etc and it was cranking meaning that the battery was fine.

I disconnected battery, reset, did everything and nothing worked. I already had scheduled a towing when I read this forum and tried the valet key trick and lo and behold it worked!

My guess is that sometimes the chip in the key gets buggy and the computer won't allow the key to start. Putting in the valet key seemed to reset the settings, because right afterwards my #1 key started to work again... I guess I need to keep my valet key in my cars at all times now...