Car sometimes won’t start, but battery is fine?

[Alex Merlin]

I have a 2005 Honda Civic.

Sometimes (maybe once every month or two) I try to start my car and it won’t start. No lights or anything when I turn the ignition and seems like the battery is dead. But when I open and close my door hard enough to slightly shake the car, the car starts fine. Sometimes it takes a few tries of opening and closing the door. When the car does start, my radio is reset, meaning the connection to the battery was lost.

I looked at the terminals of my battery and they seem pretty clean. Is there a loose wiring somewhere in my car? Should I try to clean my battery terminals?

My friend has recommended me to use a UCANDAS VDM Wireless Diagnostic Tool to diagnose. I being considered….

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Topic

[Bret]

Could be a connection on the back of a fuse box? especially if it is in the kick panel next to your door? just a thought i had a similar issue with my car i ended up taking it to a auto electrician i learnt my lesson lol

but im sure its something simple

[college man]

Something sounds dirty or loose. Start with cleaning the battery
posts and cables. This link should help you.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-no-start-problems

[EricTheCarGuy]

The battery connections my look good, but don’t make that assumption. Remove the cables, clean everything up, and then secure them tightly. If the problem goes away after that, then you’re probably fine.

Honda ignition switches sometimes have issues. You might try wiggling they key the next time you’re having that issue. If it clears up then you might need to replace the electrical portion of the ignition switch.

More info in this article.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-electrical-problems

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Alex Merlin]

Until a few days ago, I had no idea what an OBD2 is. But a quick Google search made me remember: that thingy my mechanic plugs into my Honda Civic to read out all sorts of fancy data. It probably also knows whether I’ve been speeding. Scary.

[EricTheCarGuy]

It doesn’t log your speeding unless a code was set at the time you were speeding. However, if you have one of those plug ins from an insurance company it DOES log your speeding and also driving habits.

[Author]

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