1998 Honda accord sometimes won't start

1,880

Asked by Vkp23 Oct 21, 2014 at 11:26 PM about the 1998 Honda Accord LX

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I'm not the car savy one in the house, my husband is but since he's working a lot I'm
trying to do what I can to help figure what it wrong with our Honda.  So I'm going to try to
explain this best I can.

It started as it wouldn't start. No clicks or anything.  All the proper lights would come on
etc.  when you turn the key nothing would happen.  Something would catch just right
though and it would start just fine.  Today it refused to start when he went to pick our kids
up from school.  He said it would click when he turned the key this time though.  He
considered it was the starter or the starter solenoid.  He eventually got it to start an hour
or so later.  But they way he got it to start made him think it might be some kind of switch
by the shifter. (Automatic) what he ended up doing was shifting it to neutral and see if
he'd be able to push it incase that was what he'd have to do to get it home from the
school.  When he realized he could, he went back put it back in park and just for giggles
tried the key again and it fired right up!  So he's wondering if there is something wrong
with the switch by the shifter.
Any ideas?  Starter? Switch of some sort?  If I'm not explaining well enough I can ask
him to post to explain better.

3 Answers

1,880

I should add too that the alternater is fine, battery is fine, spark plugs fine, all fluids are fine including oil. All the usual suspects are fine except maybe the starter but we are not sure.

2 people found this helpful.
56,550

It could be the switch on the gear selector but I'm willing to bet it's a starter. All a starter is is an electric motor. They get flat or bad spots on the armature. And at times it will come to rest on the bad spots. Then when you go to start it by bumping the ignition or moving the gear selector it can move the armature enough to start it. Then it gets bad enough it won't start one day at all. Ok now that the science lesson is over it could be a loose/corroded wire. Check all the wire from the battery, starter and under hood fuse box.

6 people found this helpful.
45

It sounds like the starter. Had same occurrence at approx. 200K. I replaced the starter (bought online from parts warehouse I believe). And it even had a warranty on it and no core to ship back (good thing). I have a '99 VTEC 4cyl. and it was the correct fix. I now have approx. 260K on my Accord. Good luck and as advised earlier, check all connections (wired ones).

3 people found this helpful.

Your Answer:

Accord

Looking for a Used Accord in your area?

CarGurus has 918 nationwide Accord listings starting at $1,599.

Postal Code:

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    JP1956
    Reputation
    6,980
  • #2
    Fredbrillo
    Reputation
    5,400
  • #3
    Jonathan Ford
    Reputation
    3,910
View All

Find great deals from top-rated dealers

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used Toyota Camry
58 Great Deals out of 995 listings starting at $2,212
Used Honda Civic
176 Great Deals out of 3,762 listings starting at $1,995
Used Honda CR-V
100 Great Deals out of 3,907 listings starting at $1,795
Used Toyota Corolla
117 Great Deals out of 2,056 listings starting at $2,795
Used Honda Accord Coupe
3 Great Deals out of 64 listings starting at $4,495
Used Nissan Altima
21 Great Deals out of 721 listings starting at $1,400
Used BMW 3 Series
71 Great Deals out of 1,177 listings starting at $1,995
Used Lexus ES
19 Great Deals out of 198 listings starting at $4,500
Used Toyota RAV4
93 Great Deals out of 2,122 listings starting at $3,888
Used Nissan Maxima
11 Great Deals out of 146 listings starting at $5,653

Content submitted by Users is not endorsed by CarGurus, does not express the opinions of CarGurus, and should not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by CarGurus. Please refer to CarGurus Terms of Use. Content will be removed if CarGurus becomes aware that it violates our policies.