Yes, yes indeed it is a tough one. Enlighten me, how would a damaged CV boot indicate a bad ground? That doesn’t make much sense to me. However, I am starting to believe that this could be a ground issue, or a bad/failing fuse somewhere. I got in contact with the dealer from whom I bought the car. They gave me the full description on what fuse should have what voltage etc. So my next step is going to be to fix the damn serpentine belt which CONVENIENTLY broke on me yesterday, get the GPS immobilizer removed, then check all the ground wires.
Also, I did read about heat soak warming the starter too much that it doesn’t get the proper electricity to crank. This seems like it could be the culprit, but I’ve had the car for about 4 years and I’ve never had this problem until now. So I don’t see why heat soak would just start happening all of a sudden.
I’m really thinking that corrosion on a ground wire may be the issue.
Also, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Now that the temperature has dropped, it seems like this car always starts on the first hit when it’s cold, but on Summer nights after sitting on a hot day, it was more likely to not start. So I’m really thinking that this is a heat related issue.
Maybe there is a corroded ground wire somewhere that isn’t getting the proper voltage when heated too much? Just a thought. Tell me what you guys think.
There isn’t really much left that this could be so, I’m bound to resolve the issue sooner or later.
The starter is the single biggest energy user in the car, more than 1000 watts, and draws more than 100 amps of current during cranking. Since the starter is bolted to the engine/transmission, and the starter ground is its case, the full 100 amps to make the starter crank the engine needs a return path from the engine back to the battery. The battery ground post is connected to the chassis. If the ground cable from the engine/transmission to the chassis is missing or has a resistance higher than about .02 ohms then some or all of the cranking ground current, as much as 100 amps, will flow from the engine/transmission through the axle shafts to the chassis, and that can heat up the CV joints and can show up in a partially melted cv boot. The voltage test I mentioned would tell if that was happening.
If this only occurs when the engine is hot, and never when it is cold, then starter heat soak has to be considered. But if it every happens when the engine is cold, then that’s unlikely to be the cause. My guess is that starter heat soak isn’t the issue. You should still ask your shop to verify all the heat shields that should be installed actually are. Sometimes they’ll rust over time, you go over a bump and they fall off, and you don’t notice. Also shops will sometimes remove heat shields while doing other work b/c they are in the way and thinking they aren’t necessary don’t bother to re-install. I don’t think most econoboxes use starter heat shields though. My Corolla doesn’t use one. But maybe the Civic does. That’s something a shop can look up for you.
My guess is that for whatever reason, faulty ground, battery, corroded or loose connection, fuse, the starter isn’t getting its full supply of voltage during cranking, and so any minor change inside the starter (e.g. solenoid contacts, armature contacts, etc) due to thermal expansion of the parts presents some increased resistance & enough of a voltage drop to sometimes prevent it from spinning.
You may eventually find this to have a very unusual cause. One time I had a high-current device problem w/my Corolla (don’t recall if it was the alternator or the radiator fan, but one of those) and after much frustration traced it to a corroded splice deep inside a wiring bundle in the harness. I discovered the battery had been leaking very slightly, and that cable ran over the top of the battery enough for the battery acid to decant down and inside that cable for a meter or more, before it finally came to a wire splice, and promptly ate through it. It was a high current splice and it took a bit of diy’er effort on my part, and purchasing a high power soldering iron, to re-splice it correctly.
I think I stumbled upon my problem while reading another forum. I read that, in Honda, the ignition switch solenoid contact is prone to warping with seasonal temperatures. This was a very very hot summer here and this is when this problem started happening. I’m pretty confident that this is the most likely cause.
I had a problem with the ignition switch on my Corolla that caused an intermittent fails to crank. Sounds like you are on the right track there. It’s possible for a shop to test the ignition switch to verify that’s the problem, so you don’t pay to replace it and find the symptoms remain.
Problem has been resolved. It was the ignition switch. Warped contacts, worn contacts, who knows. But it’s fixed. Onto the next problem
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Hi John,
I’ve similar issue my Honda 2010 civic won’t start,
Replaced
1- Battery.
2- Spark plug.
3- Engine Control Unit ECB.
4- Relays and fuses.
5- Ignition Switch.
Still not starting.
show up 3 experience mechanics. they don’t able fixed it.
shall I go to any Honda dealer or still look for another electrician.?
First step, verify the engine has both good spark and fuel during cranking. If both are confirmed, and it sitll won’t start, the engine could be flooded. Remove spark plugs, are the tips coated with gasoline? Could be other problems too, for example the camshaft may not be opening and closing the valves properly, or poor compression due to piston ring problems. Do the first step first before assuming anything else. This sort of problem is best solved by a proper diagnosis followed by replacing parts. Not the other way around.