I have a 97 prelude sh and every now and then it wont sart. The battery is fine and the fuel pump works. Sometimes I get in the car in the morning crank it and it starts right up (the cranking time is a little long too)....

I'll drive it somewhere and turn it off, go do whatever i was gonna do, come back, try to start it and nothing happens, not even a crank, just a click noise but no crank. This happens every now and then, could i have a bad/failing starter motor cuz sometimes it starts and sometimes it doesnt. I also read that the key to the car has a chip in it that sends a signal to the ingnition switch when you go to crank. Could i have a malfunctioning key signal? Also, and your gonna think im an idiot but.... I've only had this car for like 2 weeks and I was completely un-aware that the prelude is supposd to run on premium fuel, so i put regular in it once, and that tank of gas isnt finnished yet but now that i know..could this be the reason why it wont start sometimes. Any Ideas?

thanx

 

Could be a starter problem, the starter jambing against the flywheel or something. Could also be an ignition switch (they are notorious for going out on 5th Gens).
The regular gas won't keep it from starting...