2001 honda civic, my car turns on perfecttly fine, i just replaced the battery a few ago. THe problem occurs if i turn my car off , and then turn it back on right away , even if i turn teh radio, headlights and the heater off , if i try to turn my car on again it will make a werid clicking sound the first time i try to start it, after that it will turn on fine.

just wondering if my starter is starting to go out , i would like to get it replaced now rather than be stuck somewhere and have it go.

thanks

 

I think you should start by using steel wool to clean the battery posts, connectors, and the ground bolt attached to the engine bay. While the battery is disconnected, do the same for both connections to the starter itself. If the problem persists, then I would agree that replacing the starter may be necessary.

 

right now its actually gone worse, it wont start on the first try. Could bad spark plugs also be causing this ?
I did have the plugs replaced at 75k km and the car is now at 118k. When I did change them one of the rubber tubes was covered in oil, but many ppl told me that was normal, recently when i got my timing belt and water pump changed the dealer told me that i had to replace that tube plus 4 spark plugs. And quoted me $300 , i told him i ll do it my self.

When it comes to the starter thogh i dont have any clue on how to replace that.

 

If your problem is that the starter does not crank the engine, then focus on the battery and its connectors and then the starter.

If the starter cranks the engine but it won't fire up, then listen for whether the fuel pump primes for 2 seconds when the key is turned to ON(II) and also test whether there is spark at the plugs.

The oil leak is probably coming from a bad seal in the valve cover. It's pretty easy to fix yourself. This will not affect the ability of the car to start.

 

if the starter is clicking and your battery is good then its your battery wires are corroded and not letting enough power for the starter to fully engage.... remove the power and ground wires and look for any green or white corosion if its corroded on the terminals then clean it the best you can OR just replace the cables.
you might be suprised what a weak connection can do.... without good power transfer its putting alot of strain on your alternator and without enough power your cars not going to want to run and can even burn out your alternator if you wait to long to clean the connections.

 

i cleaned the battery connectors with baking soda when i replaced
the battery a few weeks ago. Also when I did a timing belth and water pump change at the dealer they did a engine shampoo for me as well.

 

well you may have but did you check them with this problem started? youd be suprised how quick corrosion can come back! on my 99civic i cleaned the battery terminals and afew weeks later the positive wire was covered with a thick white shell of corrosion around the terminal. took more cleaning and some electrical grease all over it to keep it from corroding back again.

 

Is the light on dashboard goes out when cranking the engine? or the starter just clicking and nothing happen to the lights on dash. spark plugs or oil leak can not cause for a bad cranking. it is between ignition switch, inhibitor switch (for auto tranny), starter, battery, and connections.

 

Turn on the headlights and watch when you try the starter. If the lights go very dim or out, it's the battery or the connections. If the lights stay on but you just hear clicking from the starter, it's almost surely the starter (could also be the big wire from the battery to the starter, or the ground on the engine).

What you describe is how a Civic starter often goes out, it will click but not start sometimes, but it may start when you try again. It gets worse and worse until eventually it will always just click and never start.