Thawing frozen starter on 2017 Civic?

[mercy_me]

As title says it sounds like my starter is frozen. Today at -10C went to start it and only heard a single click. Everything else turns on just fine. Tried dis/reconnecting battery with no luck. Called dealership and first thing he asked was if I had driven through any water lately. Sure enough I have. We had some flash flooding the other day after a quick melt and unfortunately I plowed through a little lake that was much deeper than it looked :/ Temp dropped again and now it's all frozen. Said he's had a few other cars with the same problem today. My issue is that I work early tomorrow and they are closing now, and I'd like to solve this myself if I can. Temp is supposed to rise above freezing tomorrow but won't do me much good in the morning I have no garage here either.

Any tips at all? I have no idea where the starter is or I'd try to warm it somehow.

Thanks in advance.

Sponsored

 

[unr1]

That’s about 14 Degrees Fahrenheit
I’m pretty sure some people on this forum have started their cars in single digit Fahrenheit temperature or even colder.

Please keep us updated.

 

[mercy_me]

Oh I've had this car through much, much colder. The issue seems to be that it was waterlogged and then frozen. From what I've learned the starter is just not making contact because of frozen water inside it. It eventually needs to thawed some how just once to clear things. Anyway I'm trying it again this AM but not expecting any changes. Hopefully it will thaw today :/

 

[latole]

Look a dead battery.
You may forget some light or other thing on all night .

How a Civic start at -13F / -25 C
https://www.civicx.com/threads/how-a-civic-start-at-13f-25-c.19985/

 

[mercy_me]

Don't think it's battery. All power still works and it wouldn't jump start. Battery is only 6-7 months old. No lights were in on position when I first noticed it.

Anyway just tried today and still nothing see how it goes once it warms up today.

 

[latole]

Don't think it's battery. All power still works and it wouldn't jump start. Battery is only 6-7 months old. No lights were in on position when I first noticed it.

Anyway just tried today and still nothing see how it goes once it warms up today.

Look battery to me , starter need more power than anything else.
Jump it and it will start.

Check for "loose" connection at battery posts

 

[mercy_me]

Nah as I said, tried jumping it and didn't start. Disconnected and reconnected battery tightly and same thing. It also doesn't continuously click when I hold the key over, just clicks once and then nothing. It seems like all signs point to frozen starter I was just hoping I could find a way to fix it at home.

 

[latole]

Good luck , hope you fix the issues easily.

 

[mercy_me]

Thank you!

 

[Snoopyslr]

Never in my life have I heard of somebody with a frozen starter. You would have to drive your car through a 2ft deep puddle to get water in the starter. There is so much plastic aero-shields under this car, there is no way rain is making it into the bottom of the engine bay.

Check the voltage and amperage of your battery. One single click means the solenoid in the starter is engaging the drive gear, but there isn't enough power from the battery to turn the starter motor.

 

[mercy_me]

Never in my life have I heard of somebody with a frozen starter. You would have to drive your car through a 2ft deep puddle to get water in the starter. There is so much plastic aero-shields under this car, there is no way rain is making it into the bottom of the engine bay.

Check the voltage and amperage of your battery. One single click means the solenoid in the starter is engaging the drive gear, but there isn't enough power from the battery to turn the starter motor.

That's interesting. It was the techs first guess. And it wasn't just rain puddles there was a fairly deep area I accidentally drove through and could feel the car bog down.

If it's volt/amperage what could cause that in such a new car? I haven't had any issues yet.

Thanks

 

[mis3]

Where is the alternator in this Civic? With my previous car, the alaternator was in the front top section.

I too have never heard of a frozen alternator. Defective, yes, Frozen, no.

 

[latole]

Where is the alternator in this Civic? With my previous car, the alaternator was in the front top section.

I too have never heard of a frozen alternator. Defective, yes, Frozen, no.

We talk about starter, not alternator.
Alternator is on top of the engine, close to the hood, I can't see where is the starter ? In the bottom of engine where water come in?

Sponsored