Hey everyone,

I have a 1995 Accord LX I got from my sister for free to use as a cheap commuter. As it turns out, nothing is really free as I have already had the radiator go out on me. I ordered a new radiator and replaced the old one as well as the Upper & Lower coolant hoses. I ended up re-using the transmission coolant lines (as this is an automatic transmission). Did a test drive and ended up losing power to the transmission, hence leaving me stranded in the middle of the night waiting for a tow. I got the car back and found one of the transmission coolant line was cracked during the radiator replacement and found an adequate hose to replace it with. All fluids were re-filled and now it was the moment of truth... I go to start the car and i get nothing. No click, no dash lights, no fuel pump noise, nothing. The hazard light switch and brake lights work, but nothing else. I thought it might be the battery because the car has sat for awhile between the various repairs afforementioned. The battery did have a low charge so I had it re-charged and popped it back in. My voltmeter got 13.8 v which is adequate for the starter to work. The radio, dome light, dash lights, headlights etc. don't work except for the hazard lights and brake lights.

Tonight I'm going to try the starter solenoid test to see if it engages by jumpering it to the battery's positive terminal and taking some voltage tests on the main lug to the starter. Would a bad starter/solenoid also affect the other lights/radio from coming on? Any ideas on what a good next step would be?


Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

No a bad starter will not affect the lights... You probally have a bad bendix in the starter.. Which is most common.Terminals may be lacking proper conection, fuses..etc..

 

Please forgive my lack of knowledge, but what is "You probally have a bad bendix in the starter" mean? By the way, my solenoid on the starter clicks when I have it jumpered to the battery terminal and I have voltage on the hot cable connected to the starter lug, so I believe I have ruled out the battery, starter, and starter solenoid as possible issues. I am kind of stuck as to where to go from here. Are their particular relays, fuses, or anything else I should be checking? If so, please fill me in and let me know where to locate it. I don't think the starter would affect the dome light, dash lights, headlights, etc from coming on, as the ignition doesn't have to be engaged for those items to work.


Thanks so much!

 

The bendix is the mechanism (inside the starter) which pushes the starter pinion gear outwards so it engages the flywheel ring gear.

I think its NOT the starter, since that would not keep the other lights from working.

 

Fuse possibly?

 

Looking at the electrical diagram, there is a fuse under the dash (#9 PGM-FI, ECU, brake circuit) that can cause the starter not to start. It is a 7.5 amp fuse.

 

All,

Thanks for all the help and suggestions! The root problem is an 80A fuse that sits at the front of the fuse block under the hood. Picked up a part at Checkers for $3.99. The car now starts fine and all of my lights have returned. Radiator is looking solid as well as the transmission coolant lines. The only issue I have now is an ABS light which didn't exist before. I think it may also be fuse related as the cables coming off the positive terminal on the battery split into three directions, one of them being the ABS Fuse/Motor Relay box. So I will check that out and look at other posts, so I'm not beating a dead horse. If I find the problem, I'll report back here.

 

Post the ABS code by shorting the service connector and count the ABS light flashing. The directions are identical to the CEL link on this site except you count the ABS light: http://www.dhost.info/accordinfo/

Use a thin paper clip to short that connector. The ABS flashes codes differently than the CEL. ABS codes have a main code, then a sub code. 1-3, 2-4, etc. The bottom of that site has pdfs of a shop manual for a 94 accord and will help you out a lot.