1988 Accord Not Starting

[SpicyMeatball]

Alright so I bought this car in its current condition in October of last year. It sat over the winter due to Canada's harsh winters and I'm only digging into it now. From what I know its a A20A3 fuel injected 1988 Accord LXI, when you turn the key it clicks once and power cuts.

What I know: The radiator exploded and rusty coolant got on everything and the alternator belt snapped and seized the alternator, also the ground wire on the valve cover has seen better days, not sure if that has to do with anything. It has fuel pressure, the ground wire on the battery gets very hot (probably b/c the dried coolant is creating a bad ground somewhere). New battery. It was running this past August (I didn't witness that though lol). All other electronics work except for the pop ups ;(

What I'm unsure of: Spark plugs are toast and covered in sludge from a split valve cover gasket (I hope), I have no idea how to remove the starter or the location of it. Will probably run no air filter to get it going (I won't drive it that way). Even if I have no spark it should at least crank right?

PS: Im still consider myself new to cars and just learning about Hondas (I'm a rotary kid), Thanks. 8757 8758

[conozo]

A couple things
- does everything power work, windows, lights, radio, etc?
- if not, charge your battery
- if everything works I would check your grounds for good clean connections. Take and clean them up a bit with a wire brush if needed.
- you need a tune up. I would get new plugs (just get the recommended standard ngk plugs, I don't remember the exact kind but don't get anything fancy) new plugs wires, take the distributor cap off and make sure it looks good too
- your starter may be seized, try tapping it with a hammer. It's located above the transmission on the passenger side, it has a battery wire going directly to it.
- the oil on your plugs is probably oil leaking past the valve stem guides. You probably get bit of smoke on startup which isn't terrible but if you get more you will need to investigate. One thing to check is your PCV valve, when you take it out it should rattle.

There is the shop manual download available on this site to help you too.

[SpicyMeatball]

Thanks man, so far everything works even the AC! I checked the grounds and they are rusty/covered in coolant, hopefully that fixes the problem ill keep the thread updated.

[SpicyMeatball]

Alright so I took the starter out and its good, cleaned the grounds so it doesn't heat up anymore. Would a seized alternator cause a short? Thats the only other thing I can think of to prevent it from cranking.

[conozo]

I had an issue the other day on a different Honda where my alternator was shorting out. When everything was connected up my battery was measuirng 6volts. When I disconnected the wire from the alternator everything measured normal and lights and power locks worked. Cannot say this is your issue because you said everything else power works.

What does it do exactly when you turn the key. Clicks once then nothing, like no power anything?

[SpicyMeatball]

Turn key it clicks once and power cuts but comes back on.

[87rustbucket]

I would check all the leads to the starter, there should be 2 wires. One is power from the battery, the other is the ignition switch (gives 12volts to the starter when the key is turned to crank the motor). Use a voltmeter and have the positive lead of the voltmeter on the small wire ( ignition switch wire) and the negative lead on the negative battery terminal. Have someone try to crank the motor, it should read 12 volts.

If it does then it is possible your starter, or something is seized. If you don't get 12 volts then it could be...well to be honest I don't know, a bad connection somewhere.

[bullard123]

Did you take out the spark plugs and check them?

[slithica]

Turn key it clicks once and power cuts but comes back on.

Probably a bad ground connection or low battery.

The battery positive actually directly connects to the starter and the ground connects to the engine/trans. So pretty simple really.

Just follow the positive cable to find the starter. It has two bolts.holding it on. One bottom left, the other top right. It should also have a solenoid wire running to it. Small and kinda like a clip: Easily visible.

Also, clean your positive and negative terminals. Remove the wires and clean them with a wire brush (with termnals removed) then put it all back.