'99 Honda Accord electrical/starting help!

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Michael Westerfield wrote:

MikeWhitney wrote:

DanDurusky wrote:

yeh youre right. ill go over all the connections and grounds next.

what i'm really after is more info/experiences w/ main relay trouble. i'm finding a lot on older Hondas but not much on her generation at all.

The relay causes a cranks fine-or-no crank situation. Did for me at least. Sounds you've got some flaky voltage control, or a big short, or something. I can't imaging how a failing relay could cause low voltage at the starter... That's a relay and a solenoid away from the key, and those are both "binary" power devices.

I don't think the main relay is a problem either. The relay simply causes no fuel to be delivered... so no slow cranking. Just full speed cranking with or without fuel.

Thanks, of course you're right, my memory is flaky about that...

Mitchell Moore · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 3:11 pm **Posts:** 197

Rick Butters wrote:

Dan asked

Quote:

it can't be the battery if its capable of starting strongly right?

Not necessarily true. Batteries often get intermittent shorts prior to fully giving up. If this is the case, the car could start strongly 3 times in a row and then fail to start or crank very slowly the next time. Best check for this is to test the battery while it's on a vibration source or shaker of some type.

Rick is right about this. I had a battery once that would suddenly loose it's charge. I would put a charger on it and it would charge up just fine. A few weeks later it would fail again. I took it to Autozone and everything checked out fine. I though I had some kind of intermittant problem in the charging system. I don't remember why but I decide to swap the battery into another car. It took a while but the battery failed in the new car.

The first think I would do is take the car to Autozone and have the whole system tested. They do it for free.

PhilFausz · **Posted:** Sun Jul 02, 2006 9:10 pm

Regarding the main relay.... if you open the gas filler cap to relieve pressure, then turn the key, you should hear the fuel pump run for about two seconds. If that's not the case, suspect this relay... it's about $70 and you can only get it from honda. I've had it go on an 87 crx and a 90 civic.

Good luck, my civic is still not running!

DanDurusky · **Joined:** Sun Apr 10, 2005 7:31 pm **Posts:** 686

Actually after i posted this the car was fine up until last week when it spontaneously didnt start a few times in two days. So i went ahead and replaced the main relay just because it was my best guess. It was $35 at the dealer, not bad. So far so good, but it hasnt been long enough to really say.

Keep your fingers crossed!

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'99 Honda Accord electrical/starting help!

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