I have a 1994 Civic DX 4 Door. It has been running just fine. I drove it around a bit for an errand yesterday morning. Came back home. 45 minutes later was going to head to work, and it wouldn't start.

I turn the key to the On position and all the normal lights come on, CEL (then goes off after 2 seconds), Battery, Oil, etc. Then when I try and start the car, I hear one Click, and then nothing. Dashboard lights are still on, but it doesn't even begin to try and start.

I'm pretty confident I can hear the Rely/Fuel Pump working properly although I could be mistaken. Several months ago it got a ton of new parts - Plugs/Wires, Timing Belt and more. Any ideas?

 

Are you certain the battery has enough charge to crank the motor? From my previous cars, generally a click and nothing else is either a starter or solenoid (although on many cars they are not separate pieces any more, I haven't checked on my 97 but I'm sure that's the case). If the battery is charged properly, you could try manually jumping the starter with a wire or something. (MAKE SURE THE CARS NOT IN GEAR). If that fails, I'd pull the starter and take it to have it tested, but my vote says bad starter at this point, if all other systems check out.

TL;DR: Usually if it was something other than the starter the motor would still spin, just not click. A click only indicates a problem with the starter and/or starter solenoid.

 

I took battery to Autozone several weeks ago and got it charged so it should be fine. Everything else in the car is working fine - lights, radio, etc.

The starter would make sense, just was hoping it'd be something else lol. Any other thoughts?

 

Really the only things that come to mind is the starter/solenoid unit, and the ignition relay inside the car. Since the fuel pump primes and you can turn on the other modules in the car, I wouldn't think there's much if anything wrong with the ignition modules, unfortunately.

 

Common problems are the starter itself, the power and ground wires from the battery to the starter, and the interlock switch on the clutch pedal (manual transmission only). The switch won't let the starter run detects that the clutch pedal is pressed. It is common for the rubber pad that presses the switch to break, then the switch doesn't get pressed and the car won't start.

Test the starter and big wires by jumping the starter. This is done by disconnecting the small wire on the starter and connecting a test wire from battery + to the terminal on the starter for the small wire. The engine should turn, so make ABSOLUTELY SURE the transmission is in Park or neutral and the brake is set. You can actually start the car that way if the key is on, for the first test try with the key off though.

If you hear a loud click from the starter but it doesn't turn, it is probably a bad starter(*). The simplest thing is to remove starter and test it off of the car. Once off the car, use jumper cables to connect the starter to a live battery and jump the small wire like before. A parts store can also do this test.

Further tests can also be done in the field with a voltmeter.

(*) Be sure the engine is not seized though. With the KEY OFF and transmission in neutral, try to rotate the engine counterclockwise (the way it normally turns) with a socket wrench on the crank pulley bolt.

 

It's an automatic. Guess I will check this starter out then. Thanks guys.

 

there is a small wire that plugs in the starter,mine fell off and didn't start

 

Hey everyone mine is doing same thing have a 00civic automatic i changed the battery and the starter but it dose it sometimes were it just clicks and takes a while for it to start any ideas

 

If the starter clicks and doesn't turn, its generally a bad starter. As mentioned above, if the motor can be turned over by hand with a wrench, but the starter doesn't turn when activated, its shot.

 

Alright, well I tried to take my starter out, but I have am not 100% sure I know what part it is. Take a look at these 2 pics and help me out to know which one the starter is.



Obviously, that comprises of alot of different parts. From my reading, I believe the starter is beneath the hose that is beneath the spark plug wires.

This is what I'm thinking:



This, I believe, is the starter. The thing with the green ring around it and the loose screw sitting on top. Am I correct or am I off? Thanks.