Any idea why my EP3 won't start?

[bloodzombie]

Car was running fine, park in the driveway, come back about an hour later to run out to grab dinner, turn the key... nothing. No trying to turn over, no nothing, just the radio and the guages come to life (so battery is obviously fine). I try about 5 more times and give up, drive my s2k to get dinner.

After dinner, I go back out, the EP3 starts right up, no hassle, no hesitation.

This is the third time this has happened, the first time was in '03 about a month after I bought the car, didn't happen again for a couple years, then again for a couple years. It's just the weirdest thing and I'm afraid at some point it's going to leave me stranded somewhere.

Has this ever happened to anyone else?

[hondaguy92129]

maybe your starter is bad? It happened in an old mercedes I used to have, turned out that some wiring went bad.

[jh604]

When you turn the key, does it click? If it does nothing its most likely the starter or battery. If it clicks its the starter. If it cranks but doesnt start , its can be a number of things

[hondaguy92129]

When you turn the key, does it click? If it does nothing its most likely the starter or battery. If it clicks its the starter. If it cranks but doesnt start , its can be a number of things

well he said it doesnt even try to turn over so I'm assuming it doesnt crank at all. On a side note I'm jealous op has an ep and s2k lol

[bloodzombie]

There is no clicking, no cranking, no nothing and the weirdest part is that after I waited awhile, it started just fine. I don't actually know if it's the time gone by that makes it start, or if it's just random whether or not it will happen.

It's like the car is completely not recognizing that you've turned the key into the "start" position.

And hondaguy... it doesn't suck to have both. The EP3 is basically my wife's car now, so it's got all the dings and scratches that go along with that and it's full of dog fur but she still loves it.

[hondaguy92129]

suck? I said I was jealous :p

Hmmm thats weird though, no sound at all?

[bloodzombie]

Yeah sorry, that was a weird way of saying that. When I said it doesn't suck, I meant that it's pretty awesome. :mbiggrin:

And yeah, no sound at all. It's not trying and failing, it's just not even trying. Like me in high school.

[johnkimble]

can you push start it when this happens? i'm a fan of the push start. it can eliminate some factors in the equation

for reference http://www.ehow.com/how_7414_push-start-car.html

[bloodzombie]

That is a good question. I thought of trying it but once it rolls down the hill, I'll never get it back into the driveway if it doesn't start. I've also never tried it.

I'll check out that link and give it a try this weekend when I have more time to deal with it. I'd like to just bring it to a dealership and let them figure it out but I'm afraid it will start right up for them and they'll tell me nothing is wrong. It didn't start again this morning though, and it almost made me late to class because I had to drive my wife to work, so I need to get it fixed.

On a completely separate topic I just had a really cool moment on my way home from school. Crossing the West Seattle bridge with the top down (s2k) and the blue angels flew over.

[hondaguy92129]

Yeah sorry, that was a weird way of saying that. When I said it doesn't suck, I meant that it's pretty awesome. :mbiggrin:

And yeah, no sound at all. It's not trying and failing, it's just not even trying. Like me in high school.

lol word man I hear you.

Well even if it IS the starter, doing a bump/push start should work fine.

[johnkimble]

yeah trying it down a hill is the best situation, but probably not the best situation to try it in if you've never done it.

it's pretty easy, i used to have to push start my eg everywhere because something was always failing. open the door, get a good running start, hop in, push and release the clutch twice and if you do it right the motor will turn over.

i learned on a car with a good battery in a parking lot. if you want to try it out without having to be in the situation, it's a good trick to learn in case your stuck somewhere, and it's worth having it in your pocket if you ever need it... plus chicks think it's genius

[bloodzombie]

I think I've figured this out. I think it's the clutch switch. I've found that if it won't start, I can just press the clutch in and out a couple times and it will usually start after that. Since that's the only thing that's moving between attempts to start it, I have to think that's the most likely culprit.

[robzilla]

Mine started doing the same thing. Its really random. I bought my Ep3 new in 2003 and the first time it happened was 3 months ago. Then it didn't happen again until around 3 weeks ago, then again today at the gas station.

I have been thinking starter or clutch switch with mine. I was going to push start mine, but each time I have got it started with several attempts. The first time I got out opened the hood looked around, got back in and it started right up. The second time I tried the clutch in and out a few times and then held the key at start and it fired right up. Today same thing it seemed like the clutch switch, I kept bringing the clutch in and out and turning the key. Finally I held the key to on with clutch in, kept holding key clutch out then in and it started.
Hope that makes sense. Sounds like the same as you.

A re manufactured started from majestic Honda is $185.70
There are 2 clutch switches SWITCH ASSY., CLUTCH (INHIBITER) $ 31.99 and SWITCH ASSY., CLUTCH (TEC) $20.04
I need to look into witch one does what.

Have you solved your problem yet???