Been researching this issue on here pretty much since I bought the car, now it's getting worse it seems. Initially what was happening was when I'd go to start the car when the motor was warm there would be the occasional issue starting. Sometimes it would just take several extra cranks, and other times it would crank and then the cranking would just abruptly stop. Now I'm occasionally experiencing getting no crank. Turn the key hear a faint click from the motor. Now obviously my first guess is starter, but would like some opinions. Keep in mind it does start no issue sometimes, especially when cold and when it does start it cranks with plenty of power. Also thought maybe crank position sensor but the not getting any crank is leading me to believe that’s probably not the case. Thanks for the help in advanced.

 

Sounds like ignition switch.

 

If it is an ignition switch would it still only occur when the car is warmed up? It starts fine cold. Otherwise I agree completely.

 

bump... any other suggestions?

 

Mine was giving me trouble, and I took the starter out and sprayed wd40 in the opening of the starter because the gear was got moving out when I spun it, there was a lot of grease build up, once I got that all out, the gear would spring out and it was fine

give it a shot, it's easy to take the starter out, take out the intake assemble and ull see it at the bottem of the engine....two bolts and its out, ones a 14mm, ones a 17mm

make sure u disconnect the battery before you do it, and undo the ground cable from the starter

good luck

 

if your gonna put it which i would recommend just run it down to autozone to test it make sure they run the test at least 3-4 times mine took 3x to fail but then wouldnt move at all my issue was slightly different but the starter comes out sooo fast might as well check this one off the list!

 

Could be the ignition switch, could be the starter, could be the ects(doubt it if it runs fine when started).

I have seen either of the first two with your symptoms. Is it the factory starter?

 

Sorry to hijack an old(ish) thread, but my max won't start and is pretty far from home nowhere near a "friendly" repair. And I'm not as big as a gearhead as i wish, or need at the time.

What happened was it seemed like it was having a tough time starting, it would crank a little slow, then have a rough time idling and die out (over the course of maybe 2-3 seconds, very quick time to die after cranking). But at least it would start, this happened early in the afternoon, not too hot out. The car wasn't overheating, no leaks of any kind (unless it's the slowest leak ever, engine bay could be eaten off of) Once it started, it ran all day, absolutely no stall out at red lights, nothing at all.

And then i turned it off..

Now, my car is sitting in a parking lot, pretty far away from home and it won't even crank. I turn the key to the on/accessory area and the dash will light up, stereo (It doesn't work anyway), the clock shows correct time. But if i turn to crank, It doesn't make a sound, doesn't even try.

I figured it might be the battery, so i got out my Portable jump start, clamped it up and it still wouldn't crank. A buddy i called brought his (Maybe mine was broke?) Didn't work. No crank at all, and I can't readily get ECU codes as it is already dark, and pretty far away. After reading a few posts I figured it might be the starter, but no one seems to have the kind of problem I've come across here. Any kind of help would be highly appreciated.

 

The starter sounds like the reason your car is not turning over at all. Try hitting with a wrench while someone turns the key. As for the rough idling and then dying out, you must have some codes stored. Have you had your check engine light on and ignored it? Sounds like there has been some neglect here...

 

It was a recent purchase, I've only been driving it for the better part of a week, almost two, and no CEL that i've noticed. But since it was a recent purchase i've been relatively alert to little things like that none this morning when starting up and driving off, But NOW it has one, lol, hell of a time for one. But as i've noticed, no major problems aside from the rough start sometimes. (and of course this).

 

my 95 just started this crap like 2 months ago and it pisses me OFF!! its embarassing when you try to start your car at a gas station and it starts and abruptly stops! that or it will crank 2 or 3times before starting! my car has 295k miles on it i just put new transmission in it. it is WELL maintained as you can tell runs damn good at 295k miles just been having these starting issues. if anyone has an idea what my problem could be please im me or post on here. I'm a good mechanic but this gots me stumped cause runs damn good allll day just dont like starting.


check engine light on for random missfires which i NEVER feel and knock sensor. has new plugs,air filter,fuel filter you know all the simple stuff is good on this car only thing i can think of is my motor is loosing compression and not easilly starting like it used to.


any help guys thanks,.

 

it's sounds like it's either your starter or your ignition switch

 

Unless u got a mechanical issue, ignintion is starter, battery, CKPS, CPS, ignition swithch dirty MAF or TB. Or in extreme cases, bad ECU. Gotta check these.

 

Ok well I had it towed out to my uncles, just towed it in, hasn't looked it over yet (he works on cars for a living, but mostly non-imports). And it fired up, After sitting for a few hours it will turn over and start. After searching around the forums i've seen a few warm-hard start threads, but their maxes at least turned over, mine won't after getting warm.

Do i have a compound problem going on?

 

Ignition switches are sensitive to high interior temps, seems our cars are notorious for this.
Starters can be sensitive to high engine temps. Starters can experience something called heat soak. Shut off a hot engine and enough heat radiates into the starter that the windings in the solenoid or starter itself have enough resistance that it wont function. Sometimes a new solenoid is enough, other times you need a whole new starter. Old school Chevy guys will mount a remote solenoid (ford) on the fender to alleviate this occurrence.

Heat soak could affect any of your hall effect (CKPS, CPS) sensors the same way.

 

Thanks for the advice, i'll look into a new starter when i get it home, And i'm definitely going to dive into the CEL diagnostics... Do i need a code reader (holy **** they are expensive) or are there any databases around that show what codes mean? It's a really strange thing, my uncle brought it in on the rollback, and it started right up... such is my luck though.

 

I would think that it is the starter. if there is no crank, it has to be the starter if you have battery. If there is crank, then its a different story. Reason why your car would have started was because when your uncle towed it in, the bumping and shaking could have possibly loosened the gearing in the starter in which another orger already suggested by hitting the starter with a wrench.

The same thing happened to one of my neighbors. His civic wouldn't crank, nothing at all. I kept on hitting it with a wrench or something, started cranking, but couldn't get it to fully start. gave up after 15 min and told him he's prob gonna have to tow to get it changed. He got it towed to the shop, and it started right up. But my money is on the starter. Ignition switch doesn't go out too often on our vehicles from the past years i've been on here.

 

Your kidding right?? Do a search there's been so many posts about ign switches its sickening. And its a $20 part If your gonna throw parts at it you might as well start with the cheapest first.

 

:metalmax:

 

Not true by a long shot. You have a clutch interrupt switch, a relay, an ignition switch, some cars have immobilizer, If you have AT you have a neutral safety switch too. Any one of those and your starter solenoid doesn't get a signal.

Do some diagnostics. When it wont start I would take a length of wire with a blade terminal, pull the starter relay, and plug the terminal in. Its where I have the heavy brown wire to bypass the clutch switch, This in the box near the battery. Jumping bat + to one terminal will crank the engine, the other terminal will do nothing.

 

Hmm, I think that might be out of my realm of ability at the time, Sounds pretty involved for someone pretty unfamiliar with car electrical systems, Might wait until this weekend until my grandfather (Mechanic) can give me a hand...

But yes, my car is AT. The thing is, i could go out to my uncles garage and start it right now, it will fire. But once i run it home, park it and shut it off, it'll stop, no crank. Would what you're suggesting be attributed to something like that?

We'll see later on in the evening, bringing it home tonight, will have more info then (CEL codes hopefully).

 

Well i got it home, And the only code it is giving me, is 03 04.

 

Wow,,I'm having the same problem on mine too...been researching here and don't have much to go on, with the exception of changing the ignition switch....I also saw a post once about a roded ground wire from the ignition switch.
I can start the car when cold with no problems, but if I stop for gas, the car will not crank..the dash lights come on but no crank, and sometimes if I hold it for 3-5 seconds the car starts (but not after trying for 3-5 times first)

My starter is new, battery is new, and I have no codes, I did all the major cleaning (maf, EGR tube, replaced solenoid, EGR valve, cleaned iacv, etc, etc).

I think the problem is somewhere between the ignition key to the battery. I'm going to try replacing the ignition switch and see if that solves anything (maybe in 1-2 weeks).

 

Any luck? I am having the same issues with my Max.
Cold Starts I get a few cranks (4-5) before it starts, normal rotation speed.
Warm starts though I am getting many cranks before it starts, about 4-5 cranks then it stops; re-starts and cranks another 4-5 times and slowly catches before it starts. It's a rough start when it finally catches as well, at least for a few seconds until it is fully firing and idling.

It's been getting much worse in the last few weeks.

Starter was tested and results showed it to be working well. I was thinking Fuel Pump, but there are no problems during idle or running, with no fuel leak or lack of fuel getting to the engine while running. Only Start up.
Changed all the plugs, reluctant to change the Coil Packs (don't think that is it)

Open to suggestions.

thanks in advance.

 

I didn't read the entire thread, but here's my two cents for OP and other 5mt's with the following starting issue:

I had this issue last week. Tried a different battery and got the starter tested at Checker and it was fine. With those tested, I tried shorting out the safety switch behind the clutch and it started up without a problem. Since then I've been driving with a wire in the connector for that clutch safety switch.

 

Remember that the problem I faced was that I did not get any crank when turning on the key..all I got was silence and the dash lights on, and if I held it long enough (3-6 seconds) sometimes it would start.
This usually happened when the car was warm (especially when filling up at the gas station!)


So I replaced the ignition switch ($60 cdn) and went to a local garage and within 1 hour it was replaced (you can probably do it yourself, but I was in a rush).

Now..WOW WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The car starts immediately and I did not experience the symptoms again (it's been 1 week).

Hope this helps!

P.S. just to add, my car is an automatic

 

I have been experiencing the same crank problem. Every time I start my car after 15 mins+, the car will not start up right away. It takes a good 3-5 seconds, and some times I just let off and give it a 2nd or 3rd crank and it starts. I press my clutch all the way down when starting and turning off.

I also got my battery/alternator/starter checked at Auto Zone, the first time I went there, the guy told me the starter failed after checking it through their computer thing for the third time (so I turned the car on and off 3 times for him to check each of those things). So I came back the next day and had the guy do the test again just for the heck of it and he said everything is reading good. So I am very confused, I still have this problem going on right now....

How will I know if its ignition switch?

Oh yeah and a couple days ago, when I was starting the car up after the "waaahhn" noise, I would smell gasoline. I don't see any leaks and I don't have a lift either so I don't know....

ALL Help would be appreciated. Thanks

- Omar

 

im having same problem again, its most likely a crank sensor.

 

I have a starting problem as well...I hear the rumbling noise occasionally and plus I get white smoke sometime. I dont know what the problem could be.

 

*******PLEASE HELP**********************************



Help I have a similar problem. Yellow key light on. Cant turn on the accessory. Cant roll up windows (hard key doesn't work). I live in Alaska. 100 MILES FROM THE DEALER.

I've changed the car battery, the primary fob battery, and have tried the back up fob.

My brake lights do work.

I've noticed that the steering wheel lock is not engaging though.

All the while, though, the yellow light stays on while I'm seated in the car with either or both keys.

Yes I've tried to sit key in key boot. without any changes. Not even sure why they put that in the car.