96 honda civic lx.......so as some of you are aware i had a minor overheating problem to begin with. Anyway so a new problem occurred last night; I turned off the car but then it wouldn't start again. I had it checked out and the fuel pump isn't pumping any fuel when the key is turned first off. 2nd off it was noticed that when the clutch relay is removed my radiator fan comes on as usual which would account for why the fan doesn't come on. Back on track though, there's no spark, no click, no nothing but the car has power. I tried to start again this morning and I heard the main relay click and the car rolled over but the battery appeared to be dead. Now when I changed the battery because I had no jumper cables, it went back to no type of response at all other than power to the car. It's very strange. I was told to buy a relay or fuel pump but I don't want to spend un-necessarily, I think that one of my spark plugs is slightly damaged but could that relate to the problem? It's very strange, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Holy crap... ...RonJ will be a great help when he posts a response.

Always check all fuses, under dash and under hood.

Overheating - old radiator, bad thermostat, old old old fluid

But I wouldn't know where to start for the rest of your issues, sorry.

 

Do the oil and battery lights on the dash come on when you turn the key to on (II)? Do they stay on when you turn the key to try to start?

I thought your car was automatic. Those of course don't have a clutch relay (unless you're talking about the A/C clutch, which has nothing to do with starting or cooling the radiator).

If the ignition circuit powers up with the key on you could try jumping the starter. To do this, disconnect the small wire at the starter and hold a test wire on the starter terminal for the small wire. Make absolutely sure the car is not in gear and the brake set so it can't move. Turn the key on. While standing to the side so the car can't run over you if it does accidentally move, touch the other end of the test wire to the battery (+). The engine should crank, and hopefully start.

 

Yes, all lights come on that should when I turn the key but they go off as they should too. The car IS automatic but according to the fuse box it's the fan clutch relay (go figure) but there's separate one next to it that says a/c clutch. Did complete engine and radiator flush also as mentioned in another thread i had the water pump changed just 3 wks ago and sorted out a shorted wire with the radiator fan a few days after that (which obviously another wire probably shorted in that same harness in the fuse box). None of the lights stay on as I said earlier other than srs which I haven't bothered resetting as yet, had the airbags changed last yr since my car was hit and they deployed. As for fuses all appear to be good, this is truly a mystery. I should also mention to you guys that 2 days ago I accidentally poured bleach into the radiator (don't ask) but I immediately flushed the engine and radiator (wasn't in more than a min); good thing i had extra flush in the trunk. Don't know if that could have had some role in it since i know nothing much about cars but like I said it ran fine. Here's another strange one though; I noticed with the engine flush in the car it didn't run hot and I mean AT ALL (one for the book of strange huh). By the way, there is no thermostat and like I said i did a flush so the oil is new (this is the 2nd flush within 2 months). As far as fuses I've been told that they sometimes tend to read good but don't give or get proper current. Nearing Christmas is a really bad time to be without a car *sniff sniff*. By the way how do I know that the ignition circuit is powering up? I will assume that because I am allowed to turn the key or something. Oh and another strange thing is that I have to use my spare key to manually unlock the shift, it won't unlock normally with the key in ignition as of yesterday when this all started.

 

If the check engine light comes on (for a couple of seconds, then it goes out), the system is powered up. Try jumping the starter like I said, but be sure you are in park or neutral first. The problem is probably the switch on the shifter that disables the starter unless it is in park or neutral.

 

It's in neutral and the e-brake is down. I will try jumping the starter as you suggested when I get home. But just to be clear on the instructions, am I to remove the + cable the goes from the starter to the battery and use a test cable instead for direct jumping of the starter from the battery? But can the start cause all of this?

 

No do not remove any of the big wires, just the little black wire on the starter. This wire supplies a small current that starts from the key switch and goes through the interlock switches. When power is supplied through the small wire, the starter will engage and draw its operating power directly from the battery through the big wire.

If that gets it started you probably need to replace the switch on the shift lever. The switch could be causing the not starting and the shifter being locked. Of course your other problems will still be there.

 

If that's the case, what's the exact name of the switch on the shift lever so I will know what to get if I find that it's the problem? Now that you've mentioned interlock, I did notice that the lock on my driver door started going on the fritz last wk and now it doesn't work at all other than manually unlocking.

 

Updated status: you asked yesterday mk if any of the lights come on. I checked again this morning and NONE come on other than brake light even with the ebrake down (i think I'm low on fluid though) so that's not a problem, other than the the srs light like I said I never bothered to reset, that comes on too. Other than that no check engine, no battery....aside from that I tried jumping the starter like you said and there's no response. I was thinking of whether or not accidentally pouring bleach in the radiator the other day could have contributed to this but like I said I immediately flushed the system (the check engine light did blink 3 times at the time) but after flushing the car ran fine for 3 or 4 days. Then this happened; but then again I also thought about the fact that one of the spark plug wires were damaged slightly (the plug came out of the contact but I got it back in and the car still worked since 2 wks ago. I'm down to spark plug wires, ignition coil, starter, or an actual electrical problem. I really hope it's not a major problem because I need to get my car working like days ago lol. Like i also said my driver door lock stopped working, also my shift is now locked, and what i didn't mention was a day before this happened the fog lights turned on by themselves and wouldn't turn off so I just unplugged them. PLEASE HELLLLPPPPPP!!!!!!

 

The engine should at least crank when you jump the starter. That test doesn't require anything else in the car to be working except the battery, starter, and the big power and ground wires on the battery.

Turn the headlights on. Do they come on? Do they stay on when you turn the key? If not the battery may be dead or bad the connections at the battery. Do you have a voltmeter (if not, you should get one). Clearly your electrical system has been messed with. This not starting problem won't have anything to do with putting bleach in the radiator.