Was wondering if someone could help me out. I have a 1998 Honda Civic DX, 135000 miles, runs great. Couple of days ago I was trying to fix my rear defogger which was not working because one of the back tabs had come off. I opened up the inside fuse box to check the #16 fuse. The fuse was fine. Afterwards, I went to start my car, and now it won't start. All electricity seems to work when I turn the key, the car tries to turn over, it just never does.

Is there something in the inside fuse box I could have possibly touched that isn't allowing the car to start? Or is this a coincidence and something else has gone bad (such as the ignition coils)?

Thanks for your help. Suggestions for both would be greatly appreciated.

 

Pull the brake handle up. Turn the key on but don't crank and observe that the "BRAKE" light on the dash is on, along with the "oil" and "battery" lights. The yellow "check engine" light should come on for 2 seconds then go out. The BRAKE one should stay on while you crank the engine too. If all this checks out, the fuses are probably OK and you should then assume it's an unrelated problem and go through the whole "cranks but won't start" drill.

 

Thanks for your help! Embarrassingly it was the battery.

 

Come on now... If it wont start, run it through the push start test!