Replaced Honda Fit Starter now No Start

[dduelin]

I replaced the starter on my son's 2007 Honda Fit Sport with automatic transmission. The failure was a bad solenoid on the starter which stranded him. He had the car towed to my house. After I removed the starter it failed test at auto electric center so I replaced it.

When all was put back together (no parts left over) it made all the right noises when the key was turned ON. The fuel pump whirrs and stops after a few seconds and the starter turns over with great effect. Battery is good. I have gone back over every wire harness plug I disconnected and all are connected. I checked all the vacuum hoses that were disconnected and they are all connected. The dash lights are proper, including the immobilizer warning. No panel indications I can see.

It cranks over very fast but no start. Spark or fuel for sure but I am out of ideas. ????

 

[ASPC]

The bad solenoid blew a fuse?

Transmission wire?

 

[dduelin]

When I first cranked it after replacing the starter it started and and ran for 5 - 10 seconds then quit. Under hood fuses good. Plugs are wet and smell of gas. Grounded plug shows spark.

The procedure to R & R starter included R/R air box, throttle body, and intake manifold. I double checked my work and all the electrical connections removed were replaced and tight.

 

[SMSW]

It is getting fuel and spark and will not start? Did you flood it? Maybe pull the plugs, clean and dry them and try again? Might one of the connectors slipped in the plastic shell when you reconnected them?

 

[ASPC]

Bad gas?

 

[dduelin]

It is getting fuel and spark and will not start? Did you flood it? Maybe pull the plugs, clean and dry them and try again? Might one of the connectors slipped in the plastic shell when you reconnected them?

Yes, it had fuel-wet plugs and spark to a spark plug when checked. Those Hitachi connectors Honda uses are pretty sturdy and just looking at each revealed no apparent damage or slipped connectors. Tomorrow I'll do a compression check for jumped timing chain.

 

[dduelin]

Bad gas?

1% chance or less IMO. It was running fine until the starter failed. My son drives this car +/- 500 miles a week and is 1/4 into a full tank.

The bad solenoid blew a fuse?

Transmission wire?

Fuses are good. I don't know about transmission wires. It cranks but no start in Park or Neutral.

.

 

[SMSW]

If you have compression and fuel and spark it should run, unless the timing is way off or you really don't have all 3. Since it ran and then quit, my guess would be a connector is loose - maybe something down around the throttle body? Wrong mixture?

 

[Daboo]

You said you had hoses to connect. I'm assuming electrical plugs perhaps too? This is a long shot, but are they connected to the right places?

On my Suzuki Burgman 400 scooter, I adjusted the valves. To do it, you had to take off a bunch of other things. I put it together and thought everything was perfect. It would barely run. I finally got it to an independent shop. They couldn't find the problem for hours. I took it over to the local Honda dealer. A half hour later he called me up saying the bike was fixed. What was wrong? There were two plugs to sensors that had the same plug ends and enough length to plug into the other plug. He noticed I had a black plug going into a gray female plug end, and a gray male plug going into a black female plug. Once he swapped them, the bike ran like new.

It's a long shot, and I don't know what your Fit looks like, but maybe?

Chris

 

[dduelin]

If you have compression and fuel and spark it should run, unless the timing is way off or you really don't have all 3. Since it ran and then quit, my guess would be a connector is loose - maybe something down around the throttle body? Wrong mixture?

I'll check for codes & compression today. I lent my car to my son the past couple of days and my code reader was in that car so I couldn't do that yesterday. I'm sure I will feel dumb to have overlooked anything else. A simple starter replacement on a car that was running, now this.... starter cranks now but engine won't start.

I will say that this car slipped timing three or four years ago and required an engine swap. It has a timing chain not a belt and I wouldn't expect the same thing to have happened again 80,000 miles later but it is possible.

You said you had hoses to connect. I'm assuming electrical plugs perhaps too? This is a long shot, but are they connected to the right places?

On my Suzuki Burgman 400 scooter, I adjusted the valves. To do it, you had to take off a bunch of other things. I put it together and thought everything was perfect. It would barely run. I finally got it to an independent shop. They couldn't find the problem for hours. I took it over to the local Honda dealer. A half hour later he called me up saying the bike was fixed. What was wrong? There were two plugs to sensors that had the same plug ends and enough length to plug into the other plug. He noticed I had a black plug going into a gray female plug end, and a gray male plug going into a black female plug. Once he swapped them, the bike ran like new.

It's a long shot, and I don't know what your Fit looks like, but maybe?

Chris

I'd think the same thing and there are four possibilities. 2 connector plugs on the throttle body, then the MAP sensor on the air box, and the one for the fuel injector rail. I have triple checked these. The wire runs are short, the plugs are far apart & different, etc.. 2 vacuum hoses on opposite sides of the engine.

 

[draser]

You're saying it cranks over very fast... does it seem faster than before? Does it actually turn the engine, or you hear just the starter motor whirring?

 

[ASPC]

You could try spraying some easy start in the intake, if it starts it’s bad gas. Assuming it’s not already flooded. Numerous times I have had water in the gas, and added a bottle of heet to the tank which always solves that problem.

 

[dduelin]

You're saying it cranks over very fast... does it seem faster than before? Does it actually turn the engine, or you hear just the starter motor whirring?

It cranks over normally, solenoid engages, starter motor turns the engine over at normal cranking speed. All sounds normal except the engine does not start. Imagine pulling the spark plug wires off your ST then cranking the engine. That is what is happening

 

[Bmacleod]

Dave, could it be something like this...

 

[dduelin]

Dave, could it be something like this...

I thought this early on but the green key light in the instrument cluster shows normal operation.

 

[dduelin]

My simple OBII reader sees no stored codes.

I'm going for a bike ride and check compression later.

Edit: Compression value range 150 to 180. Plugs were very wet. Leaving cylinders open for a few hours then replacing plugs.

 

[dduelin]

You could try spraying some easy start in the intake, if it starts it’s bad gas. Assuming it’s not already flooded. Numerous times I have had water in the gas, and added a bottle of heet to the tank which always solves that problem.

Or a fault in fuel pump (though it whirrs a few seconds - sounds normal), fault in ECU not triggering injectors, or what have you in the fuel injection system.

Sure, it could be a 1% thing but we are not there yet. It ran great the last tens of thousands of miles then Friday night the starter failed. But thanks for giving me things to run down.

 

[motornut]

It is normal for the fuel pump to run for a few seconds when the key is turned on to pressurize the fuel rail, the ECM sounds like it is not getting the signal that it is running. I believe somewhere in the ignition circuit you will find the difficulty, I'm not looking at a wiring diagram now so you will have to check yours. Also you might look for a fuse link near where you were, I have had them blow and not be easily seen.

 

[STRider]

Oh, hurry up and solve this for him so I can post this comment without being accused of being counterproductive.

I replaced the starter on my son's 2007 Honda Fit Sport with automatic transmission.

Well there's your problem! You should've replaced the starter with another starter, not an automatic transmission!

I'll just see myself to the door...

Good luck, though. You're attacking all the obvious things.

 

[ASPC]

I hate to say this and I don’t know the vehicle but is there any chance the motor is spinning backwards?