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.