Rain is the root of all engine evil...

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Sparta_7

New Member
Hey guys...
I gotta problem...

So I was coming out of the sawgrass mills mall today after a long ass interview with a prospective employer, and while I was interviewing, I noticed it was raining, hard, outside (It was loud even from inside the store). No big deal, I thought, as long as I rembered to put my windows up. Well, when I finally got out, I discovered, to my relief, I did put my windows up and all was well...

Until I tried to start my car.

I got nuthin'. No weak churning, no clicking, not a damn thing. But all my electronics inside were working. My battery was close to dead, and it had been for quite some time, but it had always soldiered through and started up for me, I figured it was energetic enough to run my dash lights, but not enough to crank the motor. So I got a jump, still nuthin'. I deducted that the problem rested somewhere between my battery and the starter assembly. I couldn't do anything about it there, so I called a friend of mine that works nearby. He came and helped me push-start it, and it push-started fine, except that there was a weird whining that I've never heard before that rose and fell in pitch with my engine rpm. And my srs (supplemental restraint system, Airbags) light came on, it never has before.

So now, I got it home, got a new battery, still no starting. So it has something to do with that little electric motor connected to its bigger gasoline cousin.
Could it be the solenoid? Remember this is after a heavy rain, stuff splashes?
Could it randomly be that clutch cutoff switch? (or interlock if you want to be all mechanically correct)
The "Starter cut relay"? (I have the dealer's handbook of the prelude on .pdf, that's where I'm getting that idea from, I dont even know what it does)
Any Ideas would be greatly appreciated, you guys are the best.


Thanks for reading my long ass post!!!
 
I know that with some old cars that if the dizy has a crack in the case or the coil wires has a split in them and moisture got in it wasent gonna start no matter what.
 
What Ryma said is true it happened with my friends sister's Sentra. A new cap and rotor and it started and drove fine. The only thing that makes me wonder is it made no clicking noise which leads me to believe condensation on the ground wire or maybe the starter wire. If the vehicle is cranking but not firing then its probably the cap and rotor. It really is hard to say, but remember always start with the inexpensive part.
 
Yep star with the cheap parts. at least you know you got them out of the way.

But back in the day I had turbo gt fox body mustang. could not get it to run right. turns out it was the ignition control moduel.

I spent prolly 200$ in other crap that actually had no effect on anything, when I coud of spent 75$ and had it running right in 3 days. It was out of comission for 3 weeks.
 
i had that problem with my 89 accord it was the distributer cap try that first i believe its 20$..good luck with your car
 
What Ryma said is true it happened with my friends sister's Sentra. A new cap and rotor and it started and drove fine. The only thing that makes me wonder is it made no clicking noise which leads me to believe condensation on the ground wire or maybe the starter wire. If the vehicle is cranking but not firing then its probably the cap and rotor. It really is hard to say, but remember always start with the inexpensive part.

Or maybe have someone who actually knows what they're doing look at it and trouble shoot it the right way, the first time. Instead of throwing parts at it. My old man always told me that a fool and his money are soon parted. If you want to be dumb, by guessing at what's wrong with it and tossing parts in it, then go ahead. If you'd rather fix it right the very first time, then take it to a reputable shop and let them fix it. There's a reason why techs get paid the good money, because they have the education, training, and most importantly, the TOOLS to troubleshoot. There's a reason why Snap-On scanners cost $7,000.00+. Because it will tell everything that's going on in that car's powertrain. Not everyone who claims to be a mechanic is an idiot, despite what some on this forum have told me. There are some of us who use the knowledge, training and proper tools and troubleshooting techniques to get vehicles fixed right the first time. TIME IS MONEY. Anyone ever heard of that phrase? I use it daily. If i waste time on a job, i'm wasting money. My money. I'm damn sure not gonna mess with my money. Neither is anyone else, for that matter. Sorry if this has turned into a rant, but everyone on this board, experienced(to be seen, yet) or inexperienced need to learn throwing parts at a car doesn't mean you've learned how to fix it. It just means you were stupid enough to piss away all your money on parts you didn't need and all your time when you could've taken it to a tech and had it fixed right the first time. You'll learn a whole lot faster about your car and how to fix it better, in the future, if you take the second route.
 
Or maybe have someone who actually knows what they're doing look at it and trouble shoot it the right way, the first time. Instead of throwing parts at it. My old man always told me that a fool and his money are soon parted. If you want to be dumb, by guessing at what's wrong with it and tossing parts in it, then go ahead. If you'd rather fix it right the very first time, then take it to a reputable shop and let them fix it. There's a reason why techs get paid the good money, because they have the education, training, and most importantly, the TOOLS to troubleshoot. There's a reason why Snap-On scanners cost $7,000.00+. Because it will tell everything that's going on in that car's powertrain. Not everyone who claims to be a mechanic is an idiot, despite what some on this forum have told me. There are some of us who use the knowledge, training and proper tools and troubleshooting techniques to get vehicles fixed right the first time. TIME IS MONEY. Anyone ever heard of that phrase? I use it daily. If i waste time on a job, i'm wasting money. My money. I'm damn sure not gonna mess with my money. Neither is anyone else, for that matter. Sorry if this has turned into a rant, but everyone on this board, experienced(to be seen, yet) or inexperienced need to learn throwing parts at a car doesn't mean you've learned how to fix it. It just means you were stupid enough to piss away all your money on parts you didn't need and all your time when you could've taken it to a tech and had it fixed right the first time. You'll learn a whole lot faster about your car and how to fix it better, in the future, if you take the second route.

Maybe instead of ranting you could take the time to learn and find out how people become good mechanics. I have gone to school for automotive tech. I have been working on cars for 10 years and you are a fool if you think that o i have a $7000 machine it will tell me what to do. THAT IS BS!! They give you information on sensors and circuits but won't tell you hey you have built up condensation on your rotor and distributor cap. You are right a fool and their money are soon parted and paying upwards of $80+ an hour and parts to do a basic tune up is you being foolish. If you take the second route you are only learning that you still don't know what was wrong with your car and you still don't know how to do the work yourself. A good mechanic didn't become good by paying someone to do the work for them but by asking questions and hands on training. I don't know your level of training or skill what i do know is what i have experienced with various vehicles. I am here to share knowledge, help people, and learn in the process. Not to belittle them because I have an I am right you are wrong attitude.
 
im no certified mechanic, but you bet your ass you could take my mirage across country at any time and just change the oil at normal intervals.shit, im 1200 miles away from home in my mirage with no issues whatsoever, nor will i worry about not being able to get home.



ive pretty much built my car by my hands into the autox funcar it is today.

go to a shop over a distributor repair... fuck that. most of the times the parts that fail are old regardless and should be replaced anyways.
 
Maybe instead of ranting you could take the time to learn and find out how people become good mechanics. I have gone to school for automotive tech. I have been working on cars for 10 years and you are a fool if you think that o i have a $7000 machine it will tell me what to do. THAT IS BS!! They give you information on sensors and circuits but won't tell you hey you have built up condensation on your rotor and distributor cap. You are right a fool and their money are soon parted and paying upwards of $80+ an hour and parts to do a basic tune up is you being foolish. If you take the second route you are only learning that you still don't know what was wrong with your car and you still don't know how to do the work yourself. A good mechanic didn't become good by paying someone to do the work for them but by asking questions and hands on training. I don't know your level of training or skill what i do know is what i have experienced with various vehicles. I am here to share knowledge, help people, and learn in the process. Not to belittle them because I have an I am right you are wrong attitude.

Then apparently you haven't used or EVEN seen a Snap-On Solus scanner. That's all i'll say. You CANNOT even think about working on newer cars, nowadays WITHOUT a good scanner. That 150-200 dollar piece of junk scanner you can buy at any local parts store will only tell you what the code is. Our shop Solus will tell me what the code is, and it even has a troubleshooter section on the scanner that will tell you what steps to take to try and track down the problem to get it fixed right. I never said the scanner tells me what all to do. It gives me all the information i need and i go from there. There is so much information and software on the Solus, that i haven't even come close to learning the whole thing, and i use it daily. I don't use it as a crutch, but i certainly can't find out what's wrong with a car when it has a check engine light, without it. If you've spent the last ten years working on cars and you don't use a good 7,000 dollar scanner to help you work on autos, then you sir, are an idiot. There are literally hundreds of sensors on cars, nowadays, and any one of them will set a check engine light. Without the scanner, you WILL NOT know what is wrong. I think you need to find another profession. I too have been working in the automotive industry for the last 10 years. So what. Is this now a, "Let's see who's pecker is bigger contest"? Wow, i guess you win. Just one more thing. Arguing on the internet is just like running in the special olympics. Even IF you win, you're still retarded. Like you, i just wanna help the younger guys with any problems they have, and all too often i see too many idiots telling them the wrong way about going about fixing their ride. I hate to see someone piss away their money throwing parts at their car, when it's still not fixed. If they had either had a good friend who knows how to troubleshooting it or take it to a reputable shop to get it looked at right the first time, then maybe then wouldn't have thrown enough money to rebuild the motor on a simple sensor problem. That's not learning from experience, that's just common sense. Apparently that's not something you possess. I see it in my shop on a daily basis. Someone tows or has towed, their vehicle, only after they threw 500+ dollars at their car and it's still broke. Just imagine how stupid they feel when I use my nice 7,000 dollar Snap-On scanner and find out that it's a crank sensor or a cam sensor, or an IAC motor or something? It's amazing, it really is. I will use any and all tools at my disposal to get the job done right, the FIRST time. I will not play around, because we're in this business to make money. Like i said before, time is money. I take great pride in knowing that i knocked out a motor job in 6 hours when it called for 12. Have you grasped that concept yet, or are you just a tinker around mechanic? If you have gone to automotive repair school, then you didn't learn what you needed to. I see anything and everything at my shop. I work in a muffler shop on the edge of a poor town. Most people who come to the shop previously took their car to a crackhead, or two or three other mechanics who didn't know what they were doing, and their car ends up at our shop. Because Chris, my boss, and myself actually know what we're doing. I don't have to prove myself to you or anyone else. My reputation, Chris' reputation, and the reputation of the muffler shop speaks for itself.
 
best two tools any body has for working on cars is their own two hands. i'm in the ignition module boat - replaced it twice in my 89 crx si. good luck and all. take that $7k you save by tinkering and go to coastal italy and get a bottle of good wine. ;)
 
If arguing is like running the special olympics and even if you win you are still retarded, it looks like you are trying to keep the argument going then......apparently you want to be the number one retard. EVERYONE CLAP FOR MONKEY!!! He's special.
Nvrenough....your not to bright as well but we will give you a hand for trying... (pity clap for Nvrenough)
 
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If arguing is like running the special olympics and even if you win you are still retarded, it looks like you are trying to keep the argument going then......apparently you want to be the number one retard. EVERYONE CLAP FOR MONKEY!!! He's special.
Nvrenough....your not to bright as well but we will give you a hand for trying... (pity clap for Nvrenough)

Yeah, so i rode the short bus for a while, so what?
 
best two tools any body has for working on cars is their own two hands. i'm in the ignition module boat - replaced it twice in my 89 crx si. good luck and all. take that $7k you save by tinkering and go to coastal italy and get a bottle of good wine. ;)

Some people get lucky a few times, the first time replacing a part, they THINK might be bad. Even the sun shines on a dogs ass, sometimes. I'd rather use my scanner and troubleshooting knowledge to fix it right, THE FIRST TIME. I don't like wasting time. Any decent mechanic will tell you that time is money. We're not in this business to jack off, that's for sure.
 
are you *still* a moron? wow...
scan this: :ufucktard:
 
Hey its a bit off topic but the shop i work in has a solus too. If you have the link set up with a shop computer find a program that turns jpegs into bmps and you can load the bmps onto the solus. We have porn screensavers on our solus :D :D :D. It is the newest solus tho. Also about the strange whining noise, does that rise in pitch with the motor winding up. Does it kind of sound like a turbo spooling? Does it posbily sound like its coming from the speakers. I had a ford probe with that problem turned out it was a couple of nasty grounds inside the vehicle. I also have a customer with an older rx-7 that I just replaced all the grounds on the vehicle for that reason. Ive seen the same problem with multiple vehicles.
 
Thats fer damn sure.


fix it right, THE FIRST TIME. I don't like wasting time. Any decent mechanic will tell you that time is money. We're not in this business to jack off, that's for sure.
 
are you *still* a moron? wow...
scan this: :ufucktard:



lmfao, thats great.

the scan tool is a great item to have. but you dont even know what car he has. which obd it is. if its a obd0 then your scanner will do jackshit for it and a reputable mechanic will be in the same boat as he is in. troubleshooting has been and will always be a job of guesswork.
machines will assist but its still a guess job.
if his car is obd1 then the scanner will give the codes. no matter how good the scanner is it will only give the codes bc thats all the car can give. but his CEL isnt on, the scanner cant give a code that isnt there. then back to guesswork.
now if his car is obd2 then the scanner will help a great deal. but it still wont tell you if he has condensation in his cap. once again, his CEL isnt on, theres not codes to give except his SRS. unless his car is programmed not to start when the SRS light is on then the scanner is once again useless. back to guesswork

the most useful tool in diagnosing is the mind, having knowledge of the systems in the vehicle and what could keep them from functioning properly.
 
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