My wife's '08 Civic is having trouble starting.
Sometimes. Never when I'm around to observe it, though.
Yesterday I spent a few minutes poking around under the hood looking for anything out of the ordinary. It started just fine for me three or four times over the course of maybe 20 minutes I spend trying to investigate.
One day last week she went for groceries, and it failed to start when leaving the store. I drove out to meet her with jumper cables, and when I got into her driver's seat just to check and try, it started just fine. Fast forward to this afternoon when she went for another grocery run. It started fine when she left here. Started fine again when she left one store for another. And a third time to the next store. On that last stop before returning home, it failed to start.
The way she described it
sounded like it could be a weak battery. She said the motor cranked when turning the key but wouldn't actually start. In the time it took me to find my shoes and get ready to meet her, not even ten minutes later, she said it started right up.
Straight from there, we met at a local Advance Auto Parts where we replaced her battery within the last year, and I had an employee come out with his kit to check the battery. According to him, the battery was in still in good condition and shouldn't be a problem. I asked her to crank the engine, and
of course it started up perfectly fine.
I'm no an engine expert, but with the battery probably ruled out as the culprit, are these signs of the starter motor failing? We actually had her starter replaced… hmmm… maybe 6 or 7 years ago? edit: Or maybe the fuel pump? Replaced that one 5 or 6 years ago too.
Anyone here have any idea?