Hello all, I am new to this forum.

I have a 2005 Honda Civic VP package.

My car is not starting. Here are the symptoms. The wheel is tight and in a seemingly "locked" position. The brake pedal is also in a very "locked" position. If I were to depress the brake pedal as hard as I could, I feel like something would break.

When I put my keys into the ignition and turn, nothing happens. There is no sound of the engine at all. The odometer simply shows a bunch of random numbers (either all 8s, all 0s, or all partial 8s) and on top there is a message "Trip AB"

When I turn the keys clockwise and then counterclockwise again (taking the keys out of the ignition) there is a very audible "ticking noise" that appears to come behind and below the steering wheel.

Here is the good news - I have had this exact same problem once before at a gas station. The symptoms were all exactly the same. I called a Honda dealership and they gave me a solution that worked.

The problem is, I do not remember the solution.

I remember they said that the problem was perhaps caused by putting the car into park and turning the car off "too fast" or something of the sort.

I think they told me to put the car into neutral and then turn the car on, but I don't remember.


It is too late to call the dealership now. I will call them tomorrow, but in the meantime I figured there may be somebody here who could either corroborate the "put the car into neutral" hypothesis or give me a better solution.

I did not want to try to put the car into neutral because the shift (this is an automatic transmission car) seems stuck on Park. The button seems stuck as well. I feel as though if I were to press it and "force it" that something might break.

One more thing. The time this occurred before was at a gas station on flat ground.

Right now, my car is on a slight incline.

Thanks for any help in advance.

I must say that overall I have been very pleased with the car. This problem is due to my own incompetence to some degree. I am sometimes too fast with coming to a stop, putting the car into park, and turning the engine off.

I just need to know how to "unlock" this all so I can move my car.

 

Not sure, but you may want to try disconnecting the battery for a couple of minutes and then reconnecting it. Then test whether it will start.

 

I believe I just figured out what the problem was. Your post made me make one more key observation...

My light had been on for the past 5 days. Battery is completely dead.

If I turn the light on, the light is very weak. Turning it off directly yields that "ticking noise" I was talking about. I believe the noise is from the dead battery.

Anyways, thanks for the post. I'll just need to change my battery tomorrow.

 

Get a jump in the meantime.