Civic - Honda :: 2002 - Hard To Start In Cold Weather
Jan 4, 2012
My 2002 Honda Civic (160k+ miles, manual transmission) has twice failed to start this winter. This happened when the temperature is cold (<32 Deg. F). The car came with me from CA to the East coast (mid Atlantic) about 5 years ago. It occasionally has been difficult to start it in cold weather since moving East but otherwise it starts first attempt without issues.
This morning it barely started. This evening, it didn't start using the ignition. Turning the key, the engine attempted to turn over once perhaps twice. After several attempts the engine did not turn over at all - no detectable sound from the starter motor, instrument lights will flash and clicking noises come from the dash. Attempting to jump the battery with another vehicle had no effect - the engine would not turn over at all, the instrument lights flash, clicking from the dash. The battery health indicator is green.
I did get the car started by coasting down a grade, putting the car in gear to turn the engine over, and then using the ignition (I must depress the clutch to use the ignition but getting the engine turning worked first attempt without issue).
After arriving home and shutting off the engine, the car will start on the first attempt without issue (even after letting it sit at 25 Deg. F for 3+ hours). This seems like a mechanical issue and the starter motor is an obvious place to start. I can double check the battery connections and do some basic electrical testing, how to verify the electrical grounding (I'm handy with a multi meter).
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I have a manual transmission 2002 Honda Civic. Recently when the nights started getting cooler 20's and 30's, my car will not start. The starter will not grind or even click like it's trying to start. All the other electronic devices seem to operate normally, dome lights, head lights, dash lights, radio. Replaced the battery thinking it was the problem. No difference. If I turn the headlights on for a few seconds, the car starts fine. If the temperature is in the 40's the car starts without any problems. The car can sit for days without activities, as long as the temperature seems to be above about 40 degrees there is no problem. As soon as the temperature goes down, the car doesn't want to start again. I was thinking it may be the alternator not recharging the battery enough to give me my cold cranking amps, but before I dig into that mess, Are there places I can take my alternator to and have it tested to see if it is the problem?
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My 2007 Civic Hybrid is having trouble starting. This happens when it's cold out, it's been sitting outside overnight (I don't have a garage), and the IMA battery is low. I've taken it to the dealership but they were not surprisingly no luck. The car has about 65,000 miles and a new battery - the one in front - was put in not too long ago and tests fine.
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1991 honda crx si - starts fine when weather and engine is cold but lately giving me trouble starting when it is warm [above 80] and engine is cold [has not been driven for several hours].
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Title pretty much says it. When its COLD it surges while idling upon start up. It goes away once you start driving it and the engine warms up. Other than that it runs great. Its got about 235 K with a replacement motor that has about 100k. I've had it about a year. Great vehicle. Its a standard.
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We have a 2009 S60 2.5T that has trouble starting in temps around 25 degrees and below. It skips/hesitates when cranking.
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My daughter owns a 1992 Honda Accord wagon, she cannot get it to start on colder days. Sometimes she goes out and runs a hair dryer over the engine, it works, but it is getting worse. Her husband says that is ridiculous to do.
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I have a 2002 Civic LX. A/C worked until a few months ago. It would stay on for about ten minutes and then stopping blowing cold air; it would come back on and then go off again at it's own whim. Bought it to local Goodyear - told them the problem - they charged me about $130 to evacuate and recharge, looked for leafs but told me they saw no problems with the A/C, the condenser was fine, etc. A few days later, same problems started. Runs great for about ten minutes and then does its own thing.
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My wife drives a 2002 civic (mostly around town). when the car is at running temp.with the heater on and she gets top a stop sign or red traffic light, the heater starts to blow out cold/colder air. We took the car to a dealer and asked them to flush/fill the radiator and fix the problem. Well they flushed/filled the radiator and said "Yup, it still does it. Would you like us to diagnose the problem more for a minimum of 1 hour labor cost?" What could be the problem with the reduction in heat?
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When engine is cold, my 1989 Honda Civic with 270,000 miles starts fine. I'll drive it about 3-5 miles to run an errand, and shut it off for a few minutes while I'm in the store. When I come out, engine turns over but has trouble starting. It almost seems like it's backfiring through the engine. If I wait about 15-20 minutes, I can usually get it to start by goosing it, but the engine runs rough (intermittently) and sometimes stalls. The problem seems to be related to the engine temperature. Could this be caused by a sticky valve?
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'93 Civic 1.5 manual starts first crank when cold but has trouble starting if you shut it off within 5-10 minutes of initial start. Just cranks and cranks, no start. Wait a half hour, starts right up. Warm start no problem, just that first 5 minutes after initial start. Gonna check it out today . . . first chance I've had to look at it. No other problems, drives and runs well, no stumble, good idle, mpg hasn't changed, just this annoying issue.
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I have a 2003 civic (automatic) with 72000 miles on it. It recently began hesitating from a cold start. It will hesitate once or twice, I stop, and after that it is fine for the rest of the drive. Since it is sporadic, it's hard for the mechanics to see what is going on. I took it to one mechanic who cleaned the fuel injectors, cleaned the throttle plates, flushed the transmission fluid, and replaced the spark plugs. He also put a note on the bill that the transmission may need to be rebuilt soon, although he didn't mention that when he told us what he did. The car drove fine for about three weeks after that, and then it started hesitating daily.
I took it into another mechanic who was able to see the problem for himself when I left the car overnight. He scanned it for error codes, but didn't find anything. He said he checked all connections and wiring and cleaned the wiring but that was all he could do. He said he thought it was a bad O2 sensor, but because the check engine light isn't on, he can't do anything. Meanwhile, he said I should keep driving it in hopes that it will get worse so they can figure it out. I'm worried that I may be causing long term damage, and that I may get stuck in the middle of an intersection without power. Is there anything they didn't check that they should have? Should I take it to another mechanic?
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So for the last week my Civic has been making a low, rumbling sound (almost like an overly powerful bass system or a muffler) and vibrating whenever the car is idling from a cold start. The noise is most pronounced when the car is started but continues for a short time while I am driving, but only when I take my foot off of the gas in low RPM (below 1.0k). Whenever I accelerate, the noise stops, but when I go in reverse the noise is becomes louder. Also, the noise is very faint from outside of the car, but very pronounced from inside. After about 20-30 minutes of driving it usually goes away. What could be causing this?
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Car does not have to get wet, just be in humid air. Problem going on 2 years now, mechanics tried disconnecting a (?) ground/sensor from computer, major tune up, new fuel pump. Until recently, it just took keeping it in crank position for a long time for it to finally start. Recently, in crank position for 30 seconds does nothing and has me worried I'm doing damage. In dry weather, it starts first time every time.
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Honda Civic LX 1999 - Engine shuts down in hot weather when the sun has been beating down on it for a while>it can happen as I am backing out of the parkway or as I am driving in the first 1-10 minutes ?
I went to the dealer and the vin number of the car shows to recalls have not diagnosed it yet but thinking about it...
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I have a 2002 Honda civic (manual). Lately, when I have pushed in the clutch to start it, the engine makes a bad sound. It sounds similar to the sound an automatic would make when you turn the key while it is already running.
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I have a 2000 Honda accord and in the cold it has a hard time starting. It will turn over but it is like it is not starting right away. I also notice there are times when it starts to turn over but then it dies out.
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My 1996 honda civic cannot handle the heat. Every time the weather gets warm it freaks out when stuck in traffic for any extended period of time. It generally will start to rev while stopped, sometimes will jerk forward, and once continued to rev in park with my foot completely off the gas, checking the gas and the break pedals numerous times to make sure not stuck, etc., for about 2 minutes. Another time it locked the steering wheel and would not release. This really only happens when it's warm outside. The car does not have air conditioning, if that makes any difference. We've brought it to two mechanics and they both said car looks great. What could be going on?
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My 2011 Honda Civic makes a grinding / squeaking sort of noise when I start it after it has been sitting out in the rain - either for several hours or overnight. The noise seems a bit like the noise when you crank the car but the engine doesn't start. It happens after rain or a snow, so it would seem that moisture is getting into a place it shouldn't. The dealership checked it out and couldn't find anything wrong or anything that would prevent it from starting. They also told me that this noise might well go away after the first oil change - that the additives in the oil now are suppose to seal things.
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2002 Honda Civic LX
Around 1 or 2 years ago, cruise control has started acting strangely. If weather or the engine are cold, and the road is smooth, then it works fine. However, in hot weather, or if the engine is hot, cruise control disengages and the car just slows down as if someone turned CC off. Sometimes this happens randomly, other times by a nudge from a bump in the road.
If I try to re-engage CC, it doesn't work. I have to reach to the CC master switch, turn that off, then back on, and then CC starts working again for a while - until I hit the next bump or something.
The problem seems to be getting slowly worse as time goes by. At first I had this problem in the middle of summer. Now CC is affected even in winter (or what passes for winter in California).
What could possibly cause this? If it's something that could be fixed by just replacing some component, I'd rather do it myself. But I don't know what part might be the culprit.
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I've got a 2003 Xterra, RWD, manual transmission, with around 110k. It's been giving me a little trouble shifting into gears 1-3 when the weather's below 30F. It started doing this when I got the transmission fluid changed last, about 2 years ago. I took it back to the mechanic who fixed it immediately, and he changed the fluid a second time for free, but when the problem persisted, he said he had no idea. Needless to say, I haven't gone back to him. Since then, I've tried to ignore it (not too hard in sunny NC), but it's getting worse and I'm about to move to Chicago, so I think I should fix it before I move to the land of harsh winters. My first guess would be the tranny fluid weight might be a little low and I should try a heavier weight.
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