feynman314

So just picked my car up from rebuilding the transmission, new clutch, new breaks. Felt SO GOOD to not grinding gears leaving the shop on a nice sunny afternoon.

Then i make a stop, shut the car off and 45min later go out to fire her up and NOTHING.

But not nothing like the battery is dead. All the gauges light up correctly, FOB works yada yada. Even tried jumping it and nothing. Also it didnt seem to draw much off of the other car. Felt odd.

There is zero turning of the starter, just a mere click.

Went back the next day, jumped it for like 40min, but still same thing. Nothing but a click.

Was able to roll it and pop the clutch and she fired up like a champ. Also, when it was running, if i turn the key you could hear the started engage and squeak (so starter must be ok right?). WTF??

So, then I checked the starter relay under the hood release. Switched it with the one next to it (headlights I believe) and had the same problem (headlights turned on though, so i guess it rules out the relay).

What the effff is going on here. Also put in a new positive terminal cable too because it was pretty corroded and figured that might do the trick. Nope...

Any suggestions? Set this POS on fire???

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

If battery good, starter clicks, chances are the starter is kaput. Always good to check
voltage at the starter though to be sure. If there was no sound from the starter, I'd
check starter safety switch.
You can always hit the starter to see if the engine will turn over, but when the starter
acts up, if it is the starter, life will be short.

NoTLoud

When a starter dies, it usually shows little to no signs that it will die. It's one of those things.

My starter died last month. I pretty much new immediately that the starter was bad. The clues I used to piece it together were the following:

• Headlights still turned on at full brightness. Radio worked. All my amps turned on no problem. Interior lights all worked. Battery was only 3-4 months old at this point, so I figured if all these items worked, it wasn't the battery.
• When I turned the key, nothing happened, except a single click, which sounds like it is coming from the underside of the dash.

I imagine your starter brushes are worn and you are hitting a dead spot on the starter. When my starter died, I was 3 hours from home. I had my friend tap on the starter with a wrench while I turned the key over. I (luckily) got the car to start and drive it home.

From everything you have described, it definitely sounds like a starter to me. I paid about $150 for my re-manned one from Advanced Auto. From my experience, with a dead or dying battery, your car will make multiple clicking noises, but since the battery lacks the voltage to turn the car on, the starter won't turn over. A single click points to a bad starter. No click would point towards a fuse.

TacoBello

Yeah it sounds like your starter died. A quick test- tap your starter with a hammer, while someone has the key turned in the ignition. It might cause the starter to jump and start. Sounds silly, but hitting the starter is a common thing, dating back as far as starters have been around.

if your starter is totally dead, it won't do anything, but I have a feeling it might work again. Temporarily. I'd replace it asap if I were you.

the good news is the starter is rather easy to replace on the 3G TL.

NoTLoud

The starter isn't too bad to replace. The tricky part is removing the battery tray. There are two bolts (12mm) on the underside of the tray that screw into the frame of the car. You can get to them with a 6in extension, but it can be rather frustrating.

The bolts that hold the starter in can be quite hard to remove as well. I would suggest going with a 1/2in drive for these. A 3in or 6in extension and the biggest breaker bar you have should free the bolt. I ended up taking the handle off my jack to give myself some extra leverage to ensure not rounding the bolts off.

I would say the time it takes to replace is anywhere from 1-2 hours depending on your tools and experience. It probably took me closer to 2 hours.

MikeTC

Cut a small slot on each of the two mounting holes of the battery tray to allow it to slipped onto the screws that are partially screwed on. Make re-installing the tray a lot easier. .

feynman314

alright looks like i need to do a little more starter testing.

Quick question though, when i turn the key when the car is on, i can hear the starter make a noise? is that not the starter or does something different happen when the car is on vs off?

Pretty easy to change if thats the case? Im pretty decent with working on cars. Even more so I just dropped like $4k on a new transmission, clutch and rear brakes so I dont really want to dish out more dough than I have to.

thoiboi

When you turn the key on, usually it's the fuel pump priming you hear. Starter replacement on the TL is very easy.

I recommend a remanufactured Denso

Nemowuner

When you turn the key does the car click and go completely dead ? All lights and gauges turn off ?

DMZ

Check the condition of the + battery cable! I had similar symptoms last year where I thought I needed a new starter also. The cable was rotted out on the inside.
.
.

feynman314

i turn the key and it just makes one click. All the gushes and accessories stay on and nothing changes.

feynman314

just put a new pos battery cable. The old one was completely corroded, but putting a new one in left me with the same symptoms. Just a click

feynman314

So just took out my starter, bench tested it and it was fine...

Put it back in but its still the same thing. No start. Accessories are on. Battery reads 12v

Any ideas?

Nemowuner

Starter relay ?

feynman314

I swapped it with the one next to it which had the same rating and nothing happened.

Starting to feel like an electrical problem

Nemowuner

Try wiggling the key and start it. Maybe an ignition issue

TacoBello

How did you bench test your starter? How are you certain that isn't the problem? Just curious, is all. I'm still not convinced that isn't your problem.

alexb92

^^^

NoTLoud

You may be able to bench test the starter and have it read fine. I believe the issue you are having is that the brushes are worn within the starter. This means that there are dead spots on the starter, so it is not making contact and turning the motor inside of it to crank over the car.

If you are hearing one click when you turn the key it means that the starter relay is good. If you did not hear a click, then you have issues.

I went through the exact same symptoms you are having and replacing the starter solved my issue.

If the battery is good and you have one click, it's the starter.

feynman314

I took the starter out and ran a charge from the battery. Its definitely not hitting a flat spot. I checked it like 15 times and it engaged every time.

So now what I did was start checking every single relay for conductivity and they are all good. But I did notice that there were two 7.5A fuses missing in #31 and #33 in the fuse box near the hood release. So i put two fuses in there and you can hear the starter working perfectly fine. But it wont turn over...This is insane.

Now I took both of those fuses out and the starter engages.

Also, Im getting major battery drain. Not sure what could be causing that or if its related.

thoiboi

Bsttery could be too weak to turn the engine over but with no load, it spins fine. Your battery parasitic draw may be from a faulty HFL unit, it's very common on our TL

TacoBello

Yup, thoiboi is right. The HFL could very well be killing your battery. It's really easy to replace.

feynman314

Well, i took another battery from my brothers car and again have the same problem.

HFL could definitely be part of the battery draw, but I just put on a fresh battery and it still wont turn over. Starter is engaging. Seems like its getting no spark or something.

thoiboi

Constant turning could have also flooded the engine.

feynman314

I mean, I tried starting it like a dozen times. Think thats enough to flood it?

I really dont want to take this thing to the dealership. Idk what else could be wrong with it, besides potentially everything lol

Majofo

I didn't know the TL had a carburetor

thoiboi

https://community.cartalk.com/t/floo...d-engine/45985





I've experienced the same issue as OP before . Replaced battery replaced starter still no turn over, tried the press gas pedal partially while turning key and eventually car started.

Majofo

OP, just because you could get the starter to spin, doesn't mean it's going to spin the flywheel.
Did you tray smacking the armature housing as suggested earlier on, and then start?
Take the starter out again and remove the armature. Clean up all the carbon buildup, check the gaps, and try again.

If still no go, you can bypass the solenoid connection by jumping it straight from the battery. If that works, might be your clutch interlock switch.


If it's still a no go.. the flywheel might be catching.
Out of curiosity, did they resurface the flywheel after the replacement?

Majofo

Bullshit, you suggested trying to turn it over many times could have flooded it.
B) a stuck injector would likely make it a rough start, not a no start and the engine would have cranked, it would also have been symptomatic beforehand and you would likely smell fuel from the intake tract.
and 4) again... pressing on the gas pedal while starting has no effect. It's a PGM-FI fool!

Majofo

I still love you though..

thoiboi

I'm only speaking from personal experience on my 6th gen Accord. Had issues starting, replaced battery: nope, replaced starter: nope, reflowed solder on main relay: nope. Finally decided to give the good ol' gas pedal a step down while starting and voila.. it started.


https://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/so...flooded-engine