Well, the most unreliable car I have ever owned has developed another fault.

Aswell as the gearbox issue and the roof with about as much water resistance as a sieve, I now have a problem on the ignition/starter/immobiliser side of things.

The car occasionally refuses to start, it only ever does it when it's hot and turned off for a few miniutes; if you then try to start it again there is a 50/50 chance it will work. The green key is lit on the dash so i presume its not an immobiliser problem, and there is no clicking noise when the button is pressed. I don't think it's the battery because there is no problem when its cold, it doesn't struggle to start or crank slowly, and the same for half the time when it's hot.

I'm having a guess at a sticky relay? Has anyone had a similar problem or have any idea what the problem could be?

Thanks
Ryan

 

Loose connection on the starter / alternator / battery would be my first check or maybe the starter relay.

 

Just to show that there is a great variety of types of owner; my approach, given that these cars are intrinsically very reliable in their standard state, would be to go to a main dealer, describe all the symptoms, tell them that you wish to drive as far and as fast as you like, and let them get on with it. Might take a few days, but the closer they can get it to its design state, the fewer issues you will have.

 

Ryan, If you bought it from a dealer, this can be the issue itself. Trust me this starter issue will be a really simple fix, just a matter of ticking off the above said possibilities. check fuses, relay and said wiring. Could even be a sticking starter, they all wear out eventually. Sounds like your car has been "sat" for a long while, now these issues are arising from regular use due to deterioration of some parts due to not moving for some time. Might not be the case, but if bought from a trader id suspect its the reason for unlucky multiple faults.

 

The reason I don't want to take it to a dealer/garage is because the fault is so intermittent and random that they will charge me hundreds of pounds trying to find the fault, and possibly not find the problem anyway. I also moved into my first house 5 weeks ago and don't have a penny to spare.

I plan on removing the immobiliser unit this weekend to check that, I'm sure it's not a fuse because it starts most of the time. I don't think it's the starter because when it happens you don't here the relay click.

I think the car has been used as a weekend toy by the first owner, me and the previous owner have used it daily looking at the mileage given on MOT certificates.

 

Check how dirty your key is (that goes into ignition). is there any crud in the key itself? You may also need a new ignition barrel, they can wear out on any car. What can happen is you can get crud off the key, then that sits on the contact points in the barrel. Or just a worn out barrel thats irregularly conducting a current due to wear. What miles are on your S Ryan?
Try turning your ignition key really fast in the barrel to "disturb" any crud first. My 5 series has done this... I really doubt its the immobiliser
Where abouts are you in cheshire?

 

I'd try a new battery to begin with.

 

On the Preludes, dry solder joints on the Main Relay caused exactly this hot start problem. I've never heard of it on the S2K, though.

 

i too heard of that - i've not heard it on any newer honda though (post '98 or so).

i had a weird one on a peugeot.. wouldnt start (1 in 8 tries) when it got warm.
turned out to be the solenoid cable (the smaller 3rd wire) had high resistance in it, so when the cable warmed up, the resistance increased and caused the solenoid to trigger, but not enough to engage the main motor contacts; i'd get a clunk, but nothing else, at one point i questioned the immobilizer.
simple fix once i found it - found the starter motor wire from the ignition, and ran in a new length of wire direct to the alternator. problem fixed.
the pug was easier than the s2000 though - the s/motor was right at the front on the engine without anything in the way.

 

all the key does is allow the lock to turn. The key itself is not part of the electrical circuit.