90 Wagon wont start (no crank/no start)

Hai!

Firstly, thanks for taking the time to read this thread. I could really use a hand. I'm the proud owner of a 90 Wagon, 91 CRX and 90 Hatchback. I love my EFs :)

Alright, so as the title states I'm dealing with a no crank/no start issue. I've checked many things prior to posting so I'll note some things that I've ruled out as the cause of the issue (Just because I've ruled them out by testing doesn't mean I know I could have missed something!).

Starter is good. Bench tests fine. Starts with a jumper wire from the black/white wire on the back of the fuse box run to the starter solenoid.

Engine is good. As stated, it's not seized. Push starts fine or with a jumper wire.

Ignition switch is good. 12v from switch, from fuse box terminal for starter wire etc.

Main relay. I'm getting fuel, and again the car starts fine if I use a jumper wire.


Things not doing so well:

Voltage at the starter solenoid wire (the little black/white wire) reads as 6.0 mV when the car is off and jumps to 7.6 mV when you try to start it. Should be 12v. If I check that wire at the back of the fuse box (black w/ white) I get 12v there when I try to crank the car. If I run a jumper wire from the back of the fuse box to the starter solenoid the car starts fine. I shoved a little tab connected to my wire into the plug where the black/white wire connects to the fuse box, ran it out the driver's side window and directly to the starter solenoid. This starts the car every time.

edit: I did cut the end off the starter solenoid wire, re-strip the wire so it was clean and reattach a new plug before plugging it back into the starter.

I traced from the starter solenoid black/white wire up the harness to where the engine bay harness connects to the behind dash harness near the fuse box under the hood. I get the same reading on both sides of this connection, leading me to believe that the problem is somewhere in the under-dash harness between where it comes through the firewall near the ECU and the rear of the fuse box.

I'm going to pull the dash and start checking that wire at different points to try to find where the problem is, but figured while I'm hating spending my Sunday off pulling the Wagon's dash out I might ask for another opinion and see if someone had a better idea.

Thanks for reading! I can also post pictures of what I've done if some of my descriptions don't quite make sense.

Comments

  • jasoncjasonc Band Wagon
    quick development. There are two black w/ white wires on the back of the fuse box that get a starter signal. If I jump the two together, the car starts fine. One of them (on the smaller 4 wire connector) isn't getting its 12v signal. All the fuses are fine (double checked again). Suggestions?
  • Did you check the fuses visually? I've definitely overlooked a bad fuse before by simply continuity testing it with a volt meter, only to find out after much headache that the fuse was testing good but was obviously bad when looking at it...
  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    I haven't seen you mention the clutch safety switch AND/OR its associated relay. Relay is mounted on the kick panel just forward of the hood release.
  • bam-bam wrote: »
    I haven't seen you mention the clutch safety switch AND/OR its associated relay. Relay is mounted on the kick panel just forward of the hood release.

    Good suggestion. I just had to bypass this on my 89 accord. Could explain why jumping your two black/white wires together gives you a normal start.

    If you're bypassing this switch/relay, wouldn't you be able to start the car without the clutch engaged?
  • jasoncjasonc Band Wagon
    bam-bam wrote: »
    I haven't seen you mention the clutch safety switch AND/OR its associated relay. Relay is mounted on the kick panel just forward of the hood release.

    Sorry for overlooking that in my initial post, but I have it bypassed. I cut the connector off, soldered/heatshrunk to bypass it. I did check the solder and it's good.

    Also I have visually inspected all the fuses (even seemingly unrelated fuses) in both fuse boxes.
  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    You cut the clutch switch out. What of the relay? Same thing bit me recently.
  • jasoncjasonc Band Wagon
    bam-bam wrote: »
    You cut the clutch switch out. What of the relay? Same thing bit me recently.


    Didn't touch the relay. I'll check it out. Thanks for the suggestion!
Sign In or Register to comment.