[suprateacher]

I have a 1999 Acura 1.6 EL which is basically a 1999 Honda Civic Si... D series engine 1.6 litre... 5 speed manual tranny.

Anyhow, car was fine until today. Now when I go to start it I get nothing. No dash lights come on at all. No interior lights will come on. No headlights will come on when tried. I get no cranking when turning the key. I tried physically pushing the car for jump starting with no luck. I tried boosting the battery with my truck with new battery and no luck. At one point I did notice a quick burst of sparks from around the starter area when I had my fiancé turn the key to start.

I played with the terminals at the battery and my fiancé said the dash lights momentarily came on for a plit second. When the key is turned to attempt starting the car I hear one click from under the dash (at least that's where it sounds like its coming from).

I did a quick visual of the 2 connections at the starter and they seemed fine.

I checked some fuses (ignition, starter) under the hood and the fuses inside the car. I have not checked all fuses and relays... just the fuses I thought maybe connected with problem.

I am at a loss here. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[TxGreaseMonkey]

. Remove the battery from the car and fully charge it, disconnecting the negative battery cable first. If the battery is more than 3 years old, you may want to replace it.

. Clean battery terminals and cable connections.

. Test all underhood and underdash fuses with a test light or multimeter:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-t...tml#post252145

My bet is that the battery is dead. You don't want to jump modern-day cars--there's too great a chance of damaging the ECM, alternator, or sensors. Either remove the battery for charging or replace it with a new battery.

[suprateacher]

Thanks txgreasemonkey. The battery was/is good.

Let me tell you what I did.

I ended up checking all the fuses and they checked out OK. I then ran a wire from the positive battery terminal to the solnoid part of the starter after I removed the black/white wire that plugged into the solnoid. When I went to start the car all the dash lights came on as normal but the starter would not turn over. At this point I figured my starter was the culprit. I got a reman. Unit and installed it. I went to start the car and the dash lights came in as normal and the car started just fine. Afterwards, out of curioussity I ran the same test as with the old starter. I ran a wire from the positive battery terminal to the solnoid part of the starter after I removed the black/white wire that plugged into the solnoid. After a second or two, the starter starts to turn and whine like mad. Then I see smoke coming from the negative ground strap off the battery and not tool long after a puff of smoke from the starter area. This happened very very quickly. I quickly disconnected the wire from the solnoid and obviously it stopped turning and whining. After the smoke cleared, I scratched my head and wondered if the problem was with the ground. I removed the ground (actually I removed all of them from the car, 3 in total) and cleaned them up. They were not corroded or anything just dirty with not too much green corrosion on them. I dipped the ends in a CLR solution and they came out sparkling clean. I reinstalled all the grounds. I brushed and cleaned both battery terminals. I reinstalled the "OLD" starter and hooked it all up and then went to start the car and wouldn't you know it everything worked just fine.

My question now is, "was my ground strap at fault"?
I am worried that my starter may still cause me problems at a later point in time.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[TxGreaseMonkey]

It sounds like the problem was corrosion on the starter motor connections. After you installed the new starter motor it started, because you broke the insulating properties of the oxidation. Regardless, corrosion was responsible.

When I used to live in So. California, and worked at the Pacific Missile Test Center, my Honda motorcycle battery would develop oxidation on the terminals. You could not see the oxidation, but it would prevent the starter motor from working. I had to clean the terminals regularly. This is why it's important to use dielectric grease. Oxidation (even micro corrosion) can be a show stopper. While you are into this, go back and clean the starter motor connections and apply dielectric grease--you'll be glad you did.

[suprateacher]

Thanks again txgreasemonkey.

I applied white lithium grease to all the connections (ground, both battery terminal and starter connections).

Should I go back and remove the lithium grease and apply DIE_ELECTRIC GREASE as you mentioned?

[TxGreaseMonkey]

That should work. I doubt that you will have any additional problems.