Trouble Starting Car

[Dragnet]

Today is the first time I've ever had trouble starting the car. It cranked just fine this morning when I first left the house. Once I arrived at my destination it was parked for ~1.5 hours. When I tried to leave it would not start. It sounded like the starter was fine but it was as if the battery was low. After about 5 or 6 attempts it cranked up and I left. I immediately drove to an auto parts store and got them to check the battery. It checked out fine. Since then I've started it several more times and it's seemed just fine.

I don't think I left any lights on, doors cracked etc. I've had the car since October of 2017. The battery is the oem one that came with the car. I live in Alabama and it's quite warm and humid this time of year.

Anyone have any ideas what may have caused this?

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[jred721]

I would say that 9/10 that I've heard people having starting issues, it's been the battery. The battery on these cars are known to be pretty weak so it wouldn't surprise me that you're already facing trouble. Only thing that kinda puzzles me is that you say the battery checked out when you tested it out at an auto parts store. Since you're probably under warranty anyway, i'd just bring it to the dealer if you feel like the issue is big enough, and let em figure out whether it's the starter, battery etc. If you really want to test it out without bringing it in anywhere though and you have another car you can drive, i'd let your car sit for a day or two and try starting it up then. If it doesn't start, it's pretty safe to say its the battery.

 

[CVCTURBO]

I would say that 9/10 that I've heard people having starting issues, it's been the battery. The battery on these cars are known to be pretty weak so it wouldn't surprise me that you're already facing trouble. Only thing that kinda puzzles me is that you say the battery checked out when you tested it out at an auto parts store. Since you're probably under warranty anyway, i'd just bring it to the dealer if you feel like the issue is big enough, and let em figure out whether it's the starter, battery etc. If you really want to test it out without bringing it in anywhere though and you have another car you can drive, i'd let your car sit for a day or two and try starting it up then. If it doesn't start, it's pretty safe to say its the battery.

Battery probably checked out when he got to the store because it was being charged all the way there by the alternator. But yeah most likely a battery is needed. But wouldn't hurt to check the alternator aswell

 

[Dragnet]

Battery probably checked out when he got to the store because it was being charged all the way there by the alternator. But yeah most likely a battery is needed. But wouldn't hurt to check the alternator aswell

I was thinking while I was on my way there that it may charge up enough to make it look ok when they checked it. I'll keep from driving it for several days and see.

 

[NHCivicGuy]

Know issue with batteries on our cars. Many forum topics on this already. Battery is too small from the start, and when drained just slightly below the threshold, it proves to be not enough to actually start the car.

 

[02SilverSiHB]

I had this happen to me the other day for the first time ever. 2017 with 18k miles.

I believe, not sure, that it was because my cell phone was next to my key fob...I've noticed when I do this, the door won't unlock. So I'm curious that maybe it wasn't picking up the fob signal.

 

[Dragnet]

I had this happen to me the other day for the first time ever. 2017 with 18k miles.

I believe, not sure, that it was because my cell phone was next to my key fob...I've noticed when I do this, the door won't unlock. So I'm curious that maybe it wasn't picking up the fob signal.

Weird. My buddy, which works on cars every week, said he didn't think it was the battery because it didn't sound like it was struggling at all to turn over.
Ironically my Accord went dead the very next day while I was sitting in the driver's seat telling a buddy of mine how my Civic had trouble starting the previous day... but the Accord wouldn't do shit when I tried to crank it, unlike the Civic.

 

[02SilverSiHB]

Weird. My buddy, which works on cars every week, said he didn't think it was the battery because it didn't sound like it was struggling at all to turn over.
Ironically my Accord went dead the very next day while I was sitting in the driver's seat telling a buddy of mine how my Civic had trouble starting the previous day... but the Accord wouldn't do shit when I tried to crank it, unlike the Civic.

Yeah it is strange. I didnt think it was the battery since like you said...didn't seem to have trouble turning over.

 

[Tim818]

Second time this has happened to me in less than a month and I’m on my second new battery. The first time it happened, I swapped it out for a Advance Auto battery, now that it happened again yesterday I swapped it out for an Oreilly’s battery. Going to bring the car into the dealership on Tuesday and see what they say.

 

[toddrhodes]

Sure this isn't an issue with the security system? On mine, twice I've had it where the car turned over just fine but I didn't get ignition. In both cases a red circular light was lit up on the dash. I open then close the door and hit unlock on my fob and it starts up just fine.

It very well may be the battery, but just offering up an alternative in case it helps anyone.

 

[Dragnet]

Sure this isn't an issue with the security system? On mine, twice I've had it where the car turned over just fine but I didn't get ignition. In both cases a red circular light was lit up on the dash. I open then close the door and hit unlock on my fob and it starts up just fine.

It very well may be the battery, but just offering up an alternative in case it helps anyone.

I have no idea. I'd think if it was a security issue not only would it not start but it wouldn't even turn over. But hell if I know. Unfortunately I'm not very car savvy when it comes to stuff like this. I do know my car has given me no trouble since that one day

 

[foyevtsov]

I had this happened to me once. 2000km on it, driven every day and I am sure it was not a battery in my case. The starter was spinning well, no sign of a dying battery, but it just would not fire. So, I switched it off, let it sit for half a minute, tried again and it worked just fine. Probably a security issue, just like mentioned above. However, I did not move the FOB in between, so

 

[jsyar]

I had this happen today at the gas station. The security light was on and the car cranked and wouldn't start. I was eventually able to get it to start and I drove it to the dealer for them to look it over. It's about a year old and less than 10k on the clock. It's got to be a fob signal issue because it thinks the key isn't there. I had this happen a couple of months ago and I replaced the fob battery, but that didn't apparently solve the issue. It's doubtful the deal will be able to solve this as it's a rare event.

 

[tinyman392]

I had this happen today actually. I started the car, sounded like it ignited and released the clutch. Look up and the motor isn't running (0 RPM). So I start again, there is a red, round light flashing, I believe it's the immobilizer. The starter is running hard, but the light keeps blinking (oil light and battery light also on at this point). I try starting again, fails. Shut off the car and it restarts like a charm. I think something was messing with the key fob's signal.

 

[Gansan]

Today I just had an incident where my engine would crank but not start. Similar to tinyman the red LED on the dash was lit along with all the usual lights. I tried 5 or so times and then let it sit for several minutes while I tried to figure out which towing service to call. Then I tried cranking it again and it started. In my case it's definitely not a weak battery since the starter cranks at full speed. Maybe I will change out the fob battery just in case there's an issue. However, the dash is supposed to give you warning if the fob's battery is getting low. If the computer thought the fob wasn't there it wouldn't let you crank the engine anyway.

I connected up my AP200 and checked to see if there were any diagnostic codes but everything came up clean.

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