2008 Honda Civic slow to start

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Aug 7, 2012
Messages
598
Location
TEXAS
The car is an '08 Honda Civic 1.8L with 86,000 miles. We have had no issues with the vehicle and all the routine maintenance has been done. A weird issue popped up here recently, when turning the ignition to start, the engine will turn over for several seconds before it finally fires up...that's it. Battery test's at 13.1v. The plugs are the factory Iridiums. Any ideas what he trouble might be?
 
Your battery is probably on it's way out, 13.1V is the indicator.

A healthy, fully charge battery should only be ~12.65V max.

Try turning on your headlights with the car off for approx. 5-6 seconds counted out.

This is to dissipate the "surface charge". Then take your reading, it should be closer to 12.6V.

A "slow to star" whir of the starter motor is most likely attributed to a battery that is almost dead.
 
Originally Posted By: Falken
Your battery is probably on it's way out, 13.1V is the indicator.

A healthy, fully charge battery should only be ~12.65V max.

Try turning on your headlights with the car off for approx. 5-6 seconds counted out.

This is to dissipate the "surface charge". Then take your reading, it should be closer to 12.6V.

A "slow to star" whir of the starter motor is most likely attributed to a battery that is almost dead.


I have a buddy that had both a Honda civic and a Toyota corolla, I always thought he had an almost dead battery from slow starting, yet his cars always started up. I think they just turn slow.
 
If I give you option of stating it as "delayed start" vs "slow start", what would you consider to be the more correct symptom that you are having?

Delayed implies it cranks longer than it used to before starting.
Slow implies the starter is spinning the engine slowly.

Those two symptoms have different causes.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
If I give you option of stating it as "delayed start" vs "slow start", what would you consider to be the more correct symptom that you are having?

Delayed implies it cranks longer than it used to before starting.
Slow implies the starter is spinning the engine slowly.

Those two symptoms have different causes.


It turns over immediately, it just cranks for a few seconds +/- 5 secs before starting. Before it fired right up, so I surmise it is delayed starting.
 
Last edited:
My '01 Civic seems to start slower when the a/c is on. Have you been starting it that way?
 
How old is the battery? Sure you know summer heat cooks the battery, could be on it's way out. If not a maintenance free battery you might pull the caps to check, add distilled water as needed to bottom level of the fill hole, then give it a slow charge overnight. Do the latter even if maintenance free. That doesn't help, new battery may be in order.
 
It sounds like fuel related. Perhaps a leaky injector or something.

When you try to start the car next time, turn the key all the way to the ON position, but do not crank. Wait a few seconds like 5-10. Then crank, if the car fires up right away it's a fuel delivery problem. It may not be a major issue, and if there are no other problems you could probably just live with it.

My old '97 Saturn had a similar problem which did not bother me enough to address.
 
Originally Posted By: SLCraig
It sounds like fuel related. Perhaps a leaky injector or something.

When you try to start the car next time, turn the key all the way to the ON position, but do not crank. Wait a few seconds like 5-10. Then crank, if the car fires up right away it's a fuel delivery problem. It may not be a major issue, and if there are no other problems you could probably just live with it.

My old '97 Saturn had a similar problem which did not bother me enough to address.


Tried that and there was no change. My son is taking the car over to have the battery load tested.
 
How old is the battery? Is there any gunk on the positive battery terminal?
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
How old is the battery? Is there any gunk on the positive battery terminal?


Clean as a whistle...
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
How long do the batterys normally last in the fleet cars you manage in Texas?


While I appreciate where you are going, that's not really comparing apples to apples. The fleet is run 24 hours a day 7 days a week, with tons of electronics and lights installed so its hard to gauge from that standpoint. The cars without electronics usually go about 3 years, however those batteries are the cheapest the city can buy. I did find a '00 Honda GXA last Friday with a 9 year old battery, although it was dead...go figure! My previous truck...2007 Toyota Tundra was sold last January('15) with the factory Panasonic still going strong.

I don't know why I didn't think of this before but I'm thinking when I get back home I will hook up the Jump Pack to the car and see if the problem still occurs.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top