lojik

Hi Azine Fam,

My 06 TSX always seems to drain the battery more easily than most cars parked with radio and so on. But in either Thanksgiving or Christmas (can't remember the holiday) while having a 6 month old Interstate battery it started to crank really slowly. Before this my car did feel slow in the cranking department and one time before all this I cranked to start and there was no power and no starter or engine crank as if i had no power, split second later i try again and it cranks fine, weird i thought. Fast forward to the holiday I mentioned and now my car doesn't want to start as nicely, and ultimately fails. I knew you could tap the starter and it would work if it actually was the starter failing generally. I did and it worked and started, "my starter is bad for sure I thought". For a couple weeks this happened and got progressively worst requiring more tapping.

I was at the point ready to get it swapped when one morning I again tapped, a little harder because it was getting worst...it started slow but them bam, the car started with umph this time, it seemed really really solid but again only after the tapping. Side note, this was mainly in the mornings, as the day went on usually the car would start the rest of the day always, very slowly but still it would start generally until the next morning when i would have do all the tapping again. Well this last time, when the car seemed to start with umph, it actually stuck, my car started again strong and fine throughout the day and the next day of over a month and a half or so no more issues. In my mind I figured there was some crud that was in my starter that was possibly and finally dissolved or disintegrated because again it went on for over a month, then this all started again.

This time by the fourth day of tapping, I leave home thinking about how it seems to finally be time to swap this thing because it finally seems dire and how i might finally get stranded today and thats exactly what happened (early February now). I turned my car off to stupidly test my today is the day theory and yup, it did not start. The thing is though that it did not turn or crank and no power seemed to be available at all. I tap and try, tap and try, tap and try over and over, no crank, noise or turning. The last time I tapped I noticed a spark like a "hot" wire being dragged across a metal fence but slowly, not like a snappy fast spark which was odd. I thought oh i really did it now, what did I short and blow out. I checked all my power everything and it all worked, radio, windows, all of it so i knew I had power which made this even weirder. I grab my flash light and start looking for what sparked on the starter and as I look closely I notice that there is a completely loose 1/8 inch wire with a long narrow metal tiny canoe-like contact as if to allow for a spark to form in the middle of it. There was a round grommet that was torn but still around the wire. I look at the starter and i see a place for where this wire would likely go. It all seemed to make sense now (kind-of) of-course there was no power or turning, there is no spark. After trying with limited tools to get through the headers and reach that wire to try and push it in even just a bit, i could not and called AAA to get a charge and possibly tools and if failed, a tow home. Long story short, with AAA tools I finally get it back into it's slot and push it in all the way, grommet still torn but clearly in and relatively secure enough to provide the spark needed. I try again and without a jumpstart or anything it just fires right up. WOW I thought, after all these months me hitting the starter was incorrect and it was just knocking around that wire that was always probably already falling out until it finally did fall out. I was about to buy a starter when this happened and realized that the starter was probably never the issue so I let it be and thought I would try it out, that was 2 to 3 weeks ago. Now the car is ehh when starting, it may take two tries and the second one may just pop right on quickly without cranking as if it was already done and just missing a little bit. It feels like maybe moisture is getting in and not letting a nice spark or like if the spark cable is crooked and against a side where the spark gets drowned a bit i don't know but I certainly don't want to pay for things i don't need. Is this just a simple wire fit or a new ignition or is the starter still in question?

On a separate issue that may or may not be related, my small clock display at the top center of my dashboard thats like the old school digital watches, the backlight works intermittently sometimes. Just though i would mention another possible "power" or "short" issue.

Does anyone have any objections with DB Electrical or their parts? They advertise brand new not remanufactured starters.

DB Electrical - STARTER 2.4L ACCORD ELEMENT 2006-2008 & 2.0L CIVIC 2006-2011 & ACURA

Thank you for reading, if you can I would really appreciate your help.

John Horner

The DB starters are generally Made in China. I'm cautious about unknown brand car parts from China. Who knows how well they are made?

I recently installed a Remy aftermarket starter (Made in Mexico). So far it is working great. Remy is an independent company which is the direct descendant of the old Delco-Remy company, and they know a thing or two about making automotive starters.