2000 Accord not starting
 

Greetings. This is my first post here. I searched for a similar thread to this, but mine appears to be a unique problem.

I drive a 2000 Honda Accord with a 4 cylinder V-Tec engine. Today it will not start.

When I place the key in the ignition and turn it one click (the accessory position), the car does "beep" like it normally does. However, no dash lights turn on, the radio and clock have no power and the power windows and locks do not work (although I can feel them "trying" to work). When I try to turn it over, all I hear is a click one or two times.

The battery is a few years old, but it is supposed to be good for 100 months. However, it does have a lot of buildup on the cables. I would try to get a jump start, but my wife is not home.

Keep in mind that I am not very handy with cars. My brother always "got" this stuff; I do not. I just know to change the oil, rotate the tires and keep the tires properly inflated.

Thank you for any help you may give me.

Justin.

Really sounds like a bad battery or connection. You could try cleaning the connections and see. After that, sounds like you are stuck until she gets home, you can try to jump start it....the 100 months on the battery is really just a warranty and measure of quality (100 month being "better" than a 60 month battery). After ~12 months batteries are "pro-rated" for replacement.

EDIT: If you pull the cables to clean (always best) be sure you have the code for the radio.

Can you please elaborate what code you are talking about? Thank you.

The factory radio's have a "code"....to keep them from being stolen. so if power to the radio is ever lost (dead battery, pulling the cables, backup fuse, ect) the radio will want you to enter a code before it will work. Most of the time there is a card in the owners stuff with the coes, sometimes it is written in the manual or other places....bottom line, if you pull the bat cables and have a factory radio it will want you to enter a code before it will work again......if you don't have it...well, some dealers will give it to you over the phone, honda america might do the same, "some" dealers will charge a fee for this (don't ever go back to them...IMO).

Okay. Thanks for that. Mine is actually aftermarket though, so I think it'll be fine. I'll give it a shot.

Any luck? It could also be bad fuses or at worst a bad multiplexor. Let me know if you need one of those - I have one here I can hook you up with.

Well, I cleaned up the cables and terminals really well and got it jump started. I let it run with the jumper cables for about ten minutes. Then I took them off and started it a few times without the cables. An hour later (i.e. now), it isn't starting. When I put the key in the ignition, the dash lights came on, so I thought I was home free. When I cranked it over, the dash lights dimmed, flickered and went out and the car only "clicked." Now, the dash lights will not power up at all.

Get the battery tested........

Having the battery tested is actually a relatively easy and FREE thing to do..you should be able to remove the battery and take to your nearest autoparts stores,and just ask the person to test your battery.

Thanks, everyone. I thought the battery was not old enough to go bad. It turns out that I was wrong. It was merely the battery all along. I'm on the road again.