0

Honda civic vti 1999.

Car kept cutting out immediately on starting.

At one point we noticed that if you held the ignition on the third position and the starter motor would keep making noise(eventually a burning sound was developing). However we also noticed that if you moved the key back just a little i.e reverse the key a little and HOLD IT IN THAT PLACE the starter motor would not make a continued noise and the car would run properly however letting the key go would lead the car to cut out.

Mechanic suggested it could be a worn ignition lock cylinder hence you have to hold the key in a particular point or something wrong with the key itself*it is a replacement but has been working fine past 8 months).

I tried to start again today(much colder weather) and car not starting even if you hold key in place. has symptoms if dead battery i.e clicking sound but then i'm thinking it could be related to previous paragraph which perhaps suggests its not a battery issue.

last time i checked battery was 11.5 volts and we tried to jump start but this made no difference at all and car would not start with jump leads on so i guess this means definitely not a battery issue?

just to add i had previously replaced ignition switch with a used one and it was working fine. also i remember accidentaly removing the ignition lock cylinder and all the grease came off, i put the cylinder back and it was working fine. i have cleaned terminals.

1
  • 1
    Please James, I would think by now you'd know to include your year/make/model of vehicle in your questions. Please edit your question and include the needed and very valuable information. It really helps and people don't have to assume things. Feb 16, 2020 at 13:03

2 Answers 2

0

11.5 volts is not good. If it clicks and will not crank with jumper cables, the battery terminals need cleaned, the cables do not have good contact, or the starter is faulty. Sounds like you have a bad ignition cylinder. In your many attempts to start it you may have worn out the starter. If you are going to do this work yourself, the first thing to start with is the battery. Unhook the terminals and clean with terminal cleaner tool. Use a charger or bring the battery into a shop and have it charged. Test it or have it tested. Reinstall or replace if necessary. Then diagnose ignition switch. If you don't know how you might get away with just replacing it, but it's wiser to have it diagnosed before replacing. If starter now does not work the starter needs to be diagnosed. There could also be bad battery cables so be careful of that before you just decide to throw another starter in it.

-1

I must be high on something because I can not find anywhere on this entire site where a year, make, and model was mentioned. there are too many possibilities, however, it does sound like an issue with the ignition switch or parts attatched to it. look carefully at any hardware that is in direct contact with the switch as it is turned. I've seen mechanisms in the switch linkages get slightly twisted or damaged . look carefully though it may not be all that obvious at a glance. if this is a European vehicle of some kind, Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, be careful trying to jump start. you can do more harm than good and you don't even have to connect them backwards to do so. it's best to disconnect the battery from vehicle abd charge the battery

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .