Is this true? I parked my car (2001 Honda Civic, 122,00 miles) and turned it off to wait for my granddaughter after school. Immediately turned on to aux power to roll the window down a bit. There was some screeching noises and lights as if I’d turned the key too far, but I didn’t think much of it; turned the car off and after about 10 minutes tried to start the car and there was NOTHING…no noise at all, no click, click, click or trying to start. AAA guy found the battery cable loose, but tightening it did not help (battery is 6 months old). He tried to jump start and got nothing. Banged around a little and finally said it looks like I have a bad starter. One and a half hours later, the tow truck arrives and they guy took my key, asked if the key fob lock/unlock worked…I said intermittently. He got in the car and it started immediately! I was shocked! What he told me is “if the battery drops below 8 volts, it shuts everything down (a kill switch). To reset, click the lock button three times and the unlock button three times.” Really? Is that true? Just for Hondas?
Was he talking about the car battery? At 8 volts the car battery is well past dead. If dead is 6 feet under. 8 volts is 12 feet under - concrete.
I have no idea if the key fob clicking will do anything to reset anything in a Honda. If it does it will probably say something in the owner’s manual. I do know that it won’t do a thing for a battery that’s down to 8 volts.
What you describe would be consistent with a starter problem. Those can be intermittent. Many starters will die a “slow” death, and be more likely to show symptoms when hot. Its also possible that you’re having trouble with your battery cables.
Perhaps you were encountering the factory alarm? With the batt cables being loose like that maybe the 12v system was reset…thus enabling the alarm?
thanks! cigroller & Honda Blackbird: so if it just sat for nearly 2 hours and then started without a problem, the starter may be the problem. I had driven about 30 minutes before stopping and then 10 minutes later, it wouldn’t start. Starter is original equipment. obviously, I don’t know battery voltage! I’ll check the manual, but it sure sounds weird to re-set with a key fob
Hard to say…but it sounds lke that when you have the proper voltage your starter has no issues actually functioning…so no… You are having an issue related to a battery…batt cables being dirty… or the alternator not charging (bec of dirty terminals etc or alternator) methinks… I could figure it out with the vehicle in front of me for certain…VERY very hard to do electrical gremlins via the inet… Sorry.
But ifyou want to give more info I will walk with you and talk with you…
More info: this morning 6:30 AM, the car did not start. I called AAA again (after trying the stupid key fob trick). Had it towed to the dealer…and jiggling the battery cables it started. Mechanics findings - when I bought a new battery about 6 months ago, they (NTB) replaced the terminals? not the entire cable - I am not fluent in car talk, but it sounded like they connected the terminals to the cable - spliced it in or something - and it was not a reliable connection. They want to replace the cables and of course, it is labor expensive because of the cables being “all wrapped up in there.” $948. ARRRGGHHH - do they just see a sucker when a woman has car trouble? Who to trust??
How long were you waiting before attempting to lower the window? What accessories, i.e., radio, brake lights, etc., were operating while you waited… IF, for whatever reason, the battery was discharged “significantly,” it would not start. But when all electrical loads were removed for a hour or more, the battery could build up a charge and start as though nothing were ever wrong.
It would be helpful if you could scan and attach your $948 invoice for all to review.
Rod Knox: it was a fraction of a second between the time I turned off the car and then turned the key to acc to lower the window (which lowered fine). Radio and headlights were on prior to stopping the car. I turned off the headlights when I stopped. I’ll scan the invoice when I get the car back sometime today. Thank you!!
Get the thing out of the dealership and find a nice, down-to-earth local mechanic.
I’ve used aftermarket terminals many times on my battery cables and if they’re installed correctly and are good quality terminals they should be nearly as good as the originals. At a price tag of $948. to replace the battery cables definitely get a second opinion on the problem and if they agree the problem is the same get other estimates.
Here’s the description from the dealer: Customer reports car will not start intermittently. Moving positive batter cable results in car starting for a while. Positive and neg terminals bad and aftermarket term ends. replaced wire harness assembly with batter cables.
Cable Assembly $22.11, Wire Harness 421.00 Labor: 520.00
cigroller - nice, down-to-earth local mechanic, is that possible? I searched on this site and found several listed near me. will do that next time.
As my ex-husband always told me, education is expensive
This is the second post today that mentions incredibly high (and questionable) repair costs at NTB.
If my memory serves me correctly, NTB is owned by Sears. If that is correct, I would suggest NOT patronizing them.
If someone wants honest, fairly-priced, competent diagnosis and repair, it is best to avoid places like AAMCO, Lee Myles, Cottman, Mr. Transmission, Pep Boys, Sears, Midas, Meineke, Monro, and…NTB.
I have read the whole post from the beginning and don’t see anything about NTB, she got the outrageous quote from the dealer (Honda dealer I assume). Unless the battery cable fried the wiring harness it is criminal to replace the wiring harness because it needs a battery cable.
Oldtimer
You are apparently correct about that outrageous price quote coming from the dealer, rather than from NTB. The way that the OP posts her information is…confusing, to say the least.
However, I do want to quote part of the OP’s post from earlier today:
“More info: this morning 6:30 AM, the car did not start. I called AAA again (after trying the stupid key fob trick). Had it towed to the dealer…and jiggling the battery cables it started. Mechanics findings - when I bought a new battery about 6 months ago, they (NTB) replaced the terminals? not the entire cable - I am not fluent in car talk, but it sounded like they connected the terminals to the cable - spliced it in or something - and it was not a reliable connection. They want to replace the cables and of course, it is labor expensive because of the cables being “all wrapped up in there.” $948.”
Apparently NTB was involved with this situation at one point.
NTB is where the battery and terminals were purchased. $948 was the estimate from the Honda dealer.
Are the battery cables part of the complete engine harness? That could be a problem–if the original cables were corroded and the original shop spliced new ends onto them that could be a problem with either the splice job or too much corrosion on the cables further back into the harness. Bad connections, corroded wires, etc.are actually more common than bad components. Most Hondas also have a fusible link in a main power line that can fail as well. If the wiring in general looked iffy, there might be some justification to replacing all of it rather than more patching.
VDC driver- you are right I missed that.