I posted last month about this prob... I have a 98 honda accord, 130k--> been working great till now.
battery is in good condition and has a good charge.
with the engine off the headlamps off+turned on they are nice and brite.
the check engine lite has been on for a few years, and of course the red engine and battery lites stay on when i teurn the key on.

theres a neutral saftey switch so Ive tried shifting into difererent gear modes and back to park but has no effect.
its been 2 days like this, just now as I was going in and out to gather info to type out the probs here it started up!! then i tried again and it didn't? then it started again. seems to be starting good but I'm afraid I'll get stranded somewhere.
could this be an elec-sensor prob or mechanical with the starting sys?

OK... 1st of all its not due to a bad battery or altenator as was suggested in the original post.
Since that time the car has not started,
Onve during this time I did hear that hi pitch metallic noise when the starter drive gear doesn't pull
Back in after the engine starts and you let off the key so I started thinking potential starter probs.
The car hasn't started now for weeks,
I had time yesterday to mess with it and talked to a master auto guy on the radio.
After explaing to him he offered a few this advice, starter, ignition switch and or voltage drop somewhere before it hits the starter.
He said have someone turn the ignition all the way to engage the starter while tapping on the starter housing and if it started it was probably the starter or less possibly a voltage drop prob because the drive gear didn't pul back that one time.
I gave it a try and it started up when I tapped on the starter :)
BUT
The starter drive wouldn't disengage and I told my GF to let off the key/turn it off!
She said she did but I thought she was just upset and a bit confused because I was yelling to turn it off?
Since then the car starts every time
BUT
It either starts and runs but you can hear what sounds like the drive gear still engaged
OR
The car starts, the drive gear stays engaged and turning off the ign-switch the starter **keeps turning over*** even when the ignition is turned off!
I thought I was going to have to pull a battery cable loose to get it to stop but turning the key back+forth finally stopped the starter the last time I tried it.

I know there were recalls with the ignition switch on this car and I'm near certain we took the car in when mom had it and honda replaced it, not 100% sure but nearly sure it was replaced.
So now its looking this may not be a starter prob at all to me?
So I took the starter off and had it bench tested at the local auto store.
It started every time and stopped, didn't keep on turning over like it did in the car.
So now I'm thinking it's the ignition switch BUT if banging on the starter got it going then maybe the starter is involved?
But ion the other hand if the starter is still turning over after you turn off the ignition its not going to be the starter.. right?
The auto tech guy on the radio said the starter/solenoid did have contacts inside and banging on the starter indicated a starter problem.
Is there more to it when the starter is hooked up to the ignition switch as opposed to being on the bench tester?
Another Q... if it isn't the starter and its something else will the starter be damaged from the drive being engaged while the engine was running, It maybe ran a total of 10-15 seconds all together when I was trying it.

Before I replace a $120 plus starter I want to make sure Its not the $160 plus ignition switch
Or something else entirely!
By the way the guy said there may be a voltage drop but I don't have a volt ohm meter to test it and would a V-drop cause any of the symptoms I described?

Replace the starter. Its bad if its hanging up like that and could ruin things further.

Thanks for the reply cali,
Boy I sure hope it is the starter cali and not something else in the wiring/elec system.
I'd love to just have to pop a new starter in and few bolts to tighten down and be done with it.

I'm always wanting to know *why* things do what they're doing...
And this is what's giving me a fit in all this is...
If the starter keeps "starting and turning the engine over" even when you turn the iginition all the way to the off position then power should be cut to the starter,
Or seems like it would to me... right?
I'm not sure what kind of relays/points are in the starter/solenoid but is there a relay that can stay engaged to the power and over riding the ignition switch?

Oops... replied to my own Q not your comment...
Thanks for the reply cali,
Boy I sure hope it is the starter cali and not something else in the wiring/elec system.
I'd love to just have to pop a new starter in and few bolts to tighten down and be done with it.

I'm always wanting to know *why* things do what they're doing...
And this is what's giving me a fit in all this is...
If the starter keeps "starting and turning the engine over" even when you turn the iginition all the way to the off position then power should be cut to the starter,
Or seems like it would to me... right?
I'm not sure what kind of relays/points are in the starter/solenoid but is there a relay that can stay engaged to the power and over riding the ignition switch?

whats giving me a fit in all this is...
if the starter keeps "starting and turning the engine over" even when you turn the iginition all the way to the off position then power should be cut to the starter,
or seems like it would to me... right??
I'm not sure what kind of relays/points are in the starter/solenoid but is there a relay that can stay engaged to the power and over riding the ignition switch?


OK, I just looked at the starter and think Ive answered my own Q,
the one of the solenoid posts is connected directly to the battery and is constantly *hot*,
from the solenoid it goes out to the starter motor so high probability a relay switch could be getting stuck inside the solenoid and keep the starter turning over despite the ignition switch being off.
looks like cali hit the nail on the head...
any other comments

one last thing nagging at me...
why did the starter keep running when it was in the car but operated fine when it was bench tested?
hmmmm
I'm going to 2nd guess myself to pieces here... am I just splitting hairs over and over?

A starter soleniod has a plunger inside and contact tips at the end of that plunger. If there are 3 posts then you have BAT and ST and IG. When the soleniod is engauged it lights up the ignition circuit for faster starting. So if the soleniod sticks (plunger inside) it will stay engauged and the "ignition" will remain HOT (on).

That is how that condition exists.

One last thing nagging at me...
Why did the starter keep running when it was in the car but operated fine when it was bench tested?
Hmmmm
I'm going to 2nd guess myself to pieces here... am I just splitting hairs over and over?

Bench testing isn't under actual "load" when its engauged. Under load it's a diffferent stress and could be causing it to stick. Also in handling the starter outside the car like dropping it or bumping can change what was there and its only a temporary condition. It shows the starter to be unreliable.

Yup Cali... I went to work for 1/2 day and thought about it over-n-over and came to the same conclusion also that the starter was under a load in the car and not on the bench tester
That's about the only difference I could come up with...
And your right it also may have done something inside when I pulled it.
I got it starting again with a vengeance by tapping on it :D

Thanks for taking the time to help me Cali my
And hope you enjoy the rest of your Sunday out on the west coast my friend...
I have about another hour to get to the auto parts store here in Florida to grab a starter
And some corona's :)
Hopefully I'll post once more to let anyone following this that the new starter did the trick!

Make sure you have some lime to go with the cervasas:D

OK...
Good newz and bad newz...
The new starter works like a charm!
The bad is when it starts up it now idles at about 2200rpm for about 10-15 seconds
And then it idles up and down constantly from 1200 to 1700ish rpm.
If I hit the gas quickly before it does the up-n-down
It just goes right to the up/down idle yoyo thingy.
Ive checked the throttle cables and they're OK, they weren't yanked or anything like that.
And there's really not much down around the starter that could get pulled loose like vacuum hoses?
Hopefully this is a simpler prob than the starter issue
And more important---> Cheaper than the starter hehe... HELP!

By the way cali
Forgot the limes... Iknow Iknow :D

Here is something you might have forgotten. With most newer cars they save a profile (meaning average) for running the engine. Since you replaced the starter you have had the battery disconnected for some time (and cleaned the terminals ) so try driving it for a few miles and under different loads. Like stop signs and maybe a freeway exit or so. That way it can reaquire the profile before you try anything else.

I took it out for a test drive and it was great if you like having a nonstop turbo charged ride.
Did a lot of different driving, stop go... hiway+low speed and shifted into all the gears,
Still doing the same thing.
Ive had the battery disconnected before for an extended period and only had to re-enter the
Radio codes back in to make things right...

I'm thinking this is a simple thing, just have to pin it down.
It was the starter turning over when the key was in the off position that confused something I bet...

We were posting at the same time cali read my post before yours, I did a test drive to no avail
Ive had the battery disconnected sevearl time for an extended period ie: new battery install
The only thing that happens... I have to reset the code for the radio... that's it.
When the starter wouldn't quit turning the engine over even when I had the ignition turned off is the only thing I can think of that may have caused something to get out of whack?

If you have done all your under the hood checks to make sure nothing has gotten disconnected and everything is OK. You could try disconnecting the battery again and see if it will relearn the profile. Other then that your only other way is going to be to hook it to a computer and look at what it is doing in real time.

Someone said I had air in the cooling system and that could cause the idle prob which rings a bell.
When I had the hood open before the starter went in I checked the coolant level and it was at leasst a quart low so I added water to it... I'm going to bleed the air out and see what happens.
Eveident;y air in the coolant system causes probs a EMI sensor or something like that... we'll see!

Oh my goodness!! I'm just having the same problem! Can you please tell me what the ultimate result was to fix the car after it was turning ovewr with no key? I cannot believe you had the same issue... Thank you for your educational posts!