Hey all, i'm new to this sight and know very little about cars and was wondering if someone might be able to give me some insight. I've checked the general tech forum to see if any of the other problems posted related to mine, but knowing so little, it made it kind of hard to compare.

I have a 1996 Honda Civic with 188,000 miles and i love it. Up until about 3 days ago it was running fine. First off, i live in NH and its getting pretty bitter cold here and the past day or two prior to my car not starting, it was taking a little more effort and making a little more noise to start. The day it died, i had driven it earlier in the day. Later on I went to start my car again and it would rev sound like it was going to start but didn't. I figured it must be the battery and brought it in to get tested and found that was pretty much spent. I got a new battery for my car and put it into the car expecting it to be fine. I then went to start my car again and it definitely gets more power and when i turn the key it sounds as if its going to start fine but just doesn't quite get there. This battery is definitely good but i'm wondering what may be wrong with it.

Any advice thrown my way would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

More detailed information about your starting problem would help.

If the engine still turns over very slowly (like it would with a weak battery) but the starter motor otherwise sounds normal, then maybe the battery connectors and electrodes need to be cleaned and tightened to allow good electrical contacts.

If the engine turns over slowly and the starter motor sounds abnormally noisy, then chances are that your starter is bad, although problems with the starter relay or the manual transmission or automatic transmission switches are also possible. In this case, the first tests that should be done are described in the pictures here and in my next post. If you have questions about these tests, post those inquiries in this thread.

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Last picture...

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check spark plugs.