Hey guys, I have a 99 Civic Si that I'm having trouble starting. Drove it to work last night and when I jumped in it to drive home, I turned the key and nothing. The dash lights up, headlights turn on and are bright, and I can hear the fuel pump turn on and click off, but the motor won't even crank. The security folks at the hospital tried jumping the car with one of those hand held jumper things, but I'm not even sure if they had their units charged. I left the car there and used my sister's Civic to go to work. I havent had time to mess with it some more, but I'll be picking up my jumper cables tomorrow and try jumping the car again. I really don't think it's the battery. I work tomorrow night so I really won't be able to do anything with the car till Tuesday, damnit! A friend said to check the fuses, but which fuse? I checked the fuses that is found by the battery under the hood and all of those fuses were fine, is there a specific fuse I am looking for? Any help on this is greatly appreciated, thanks guys

 

it might be the starter... try pushstarting it maybe that might work

 

I thought about doing that this morning, but that car is parked in a parking garage on an incline. I know I can push start the car by putting it in reverse and popping the clutch, but if the car does not start by doing so, it's going to be hard if not impossible pushing it up back into the parking spot. I need to get my brother and some friends to help me push start it just in case rolling it in reverse and popping the clutch doesn't work.

 

Starter came to mind for me as well, of course.
If you're going to push start it, reverse is easier than 1st anyway, since it's shorter.
Main relay being bad will cause no start but since you have dash lights, etc. I don't think so.
I doubt there is enough corrosion on the battery terminal on only the cable that leads to the starter but you never know. Check to make sure the cable didn't lose connection to the starter somehow, that's the first place I'd check.

 

Thanks for the reply. I'll check the wire leading to the starter. I checked the battery terminals and it's free of corrosion. I was thinking it was the starter also, and I'm hoping its not. A coworker mentioned the clutch switch could have gone out, and that is very probable, but how do I test it? I appreciate the replies and if anyone else has any more ideas, please do share.

 

Alright, I checked the wire leading to the starter and it's fine. I wanted to push start the car in reverse this morning when I got out of work, but the morning shift was coming in and the Hospital Parking Garage was too busy for me to be rolling a stalled car backwards. I'll be push starting the car late tonight when the Hospital garage isn't too busy.

I do have a question, if I'm able to start the car by push starting(which I pray to god I can), would turning the key to ignition and hearing the starter grind be a sign of the starter being okay? I know it's bad for the starter but I don't know of another way to test a starter without having to take it off the motor. If anyone else has any idea on how to test a starter, please share it with me.

I appreciate the help.

 

This car has mood swings! I push started the car and got it to my parents house. Woke up this morning and asked my brother to push start the car so I can drive it up the drive way. Out of habit, i turned the key to ignition and the car started, WTF! I drove it up the drive way, turned it off and restarted it half a dozen times. The car starts perfectly now.

Now, does this rule out the clutch switch?

Are these signs on the starter going bad and that I should go ahead and get the starter replaced? I called Honda dealership, 300.00+ for a starter. Autozone was 150.00 with the core, Napa is 111.00 with core. Should I go ahead and replace the starter or just assume it was a one time deal?

Opinions and inputs appreciated