Hi all,

It must be time for my nearly yearly "what's wrong with my S2000?" thread! Any guesses will be gratefully received! It's a 2003/53 UK model.

So, here's the situation I find myself in. Every so often (once in every 10-15 starts, doesn't seem weather or temperature related) I get to the car, zap it open, get in and it won't start. It's as if the immobiliser hasn't turned off, as the radio, fans, etc. all turn on but the car doesn't turn over. This can be either when then car has been stood around overnight, or when it's only been sat in place for 5 minutes (it's happened after filling up at a petrol station, for example).

Initially I thought it might be an immobiliser problem, but over the weekend I pressed the start button to no effect, left it a second and then pressed it again for some reason to find that it started. Prior to this I've been locking/unlocking the car to try and get it to start, but this hasn't worked consistently.

When it does start it starts up fine - turns over once or maybe twice, but doesn't labour.

My assumption is currently that maybe the starter button isn't reliable, but I'm not sure how that's possible - presumably it's a very simple switch behind it, rather than anything particularly breakable...

So, any guesses as to what it might be? I'm currently waiting for whatever it is to break completely, as otherwise I think it'll be somewhat hard for the Honda guys to diagnose! Still, if there's a common issue that it could be, I'd quite like to know...

 

Cant think of any common issues. But off the top of my head maybe the switch that signals weather the clutch pedal is pressed or not is sticking. You push the clutch down but the switch sticks closed and the car things the clutch is still engaged thus not allowing it to start.

 

If it was the immobilizer, the engine would turn over it just wouldn't fire. Do you hear a click when trying to start? Could be the starter..

 

I don't hear anything so far as I can remember. No clicks or anything, although the radio is usually on. Next time it happens I'll mute it to be sure.

 

I had this problem on my truck last week. Check the wiring to your starter. You should have a thick wire coming off of your POS battery terminal that goes to your starter and one that comes off of your ignition and goes through your clutch pedal to a solenoid on the starter. Get a meter and connect one lead to the solenoid on your starter and one to ground and have someone try to start it. If you don't get any voltage then you have a wiring problem. If you get something then it's your starter. Mine turned out to be oxidation on the big wire coming from my battery. I just stripped it back a little and re-terminated it to the battery and it fires up every time.
Here's a helpful video
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGem9YsjCRQ[/media]

 

I have been having a very similar issue for the last six months. I run into it a couple times a month, the car is driven almost daily. You can't do anything to make the issue occur. The temp doesn't matter and everything in the car powers on correctly. I can hear all the clicks when I press the start button, just the car doesn't start. I have never been able to show anyone because it never happens when other people are around. I have tried testing the voltages and everything seems fine. Usually just pressing the start button a couple more times and the car will start. I have talked with other people about it, the general thought is that there is something wrong with the starter that is causing the intermittent issue.

 

I had this same problem a couple years back. My positive battery cable was ridiculousy corroded. Had a massive "Chia Pet" growing on it. Replaced it and it went away. You would be suprised how far a little battery maintenance would go.