By jms (63.156.244.44) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 05:09 pm:

My neighbor is having ignition probs on his 1200-74 or 75, I forget. When he turns the key he gets nada. He can start the car only by jumping the starter directly. So its not the starter or battery or an alternater prob. He thinks he needs a new ignition and key set up-cause before it went out totally it used to start some times and it seemed to be a key thing. Any thoughts?

By civic1200freak (65.34.31.195) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 05:21 pm:

I would start with the same thing! (ignition switch)...Rick

By jms (63.156.244.99) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 07:01 pm:

Anyone got an extra switch assy with keys?

By errol (64.12.107.184) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 09:10 pm:

Save your money,
Pull the steering collumn down and drill out the 12mm studs and pull the assy. off the collumn. Unplug it and take it to your Honda dealer and give the parts dept. the number stamped on it and if they have the old masters they can cut you a new one right there. And it'll match your door locks! (At least that's what I've been doing...)
But If you want to buy one I've got one...
Just put in new 12mm bolts to hold it on.

By errol (64.12.107.184) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 09:16 pm:

Oh CRAP!!! It helps to read.. There is a little plastic backing to the 'tumbler' The newer ones have two little screws holding it on, The tumblers wear also but it's usualy the 'switched' plastic thing like i said. I've ordered some before new but some places r out.
The one I have is out of a civic I think?

By jms (63.156.244.238) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 10:34 am:

I think he is able to put the key in and turn it though.

By ddechon (12.91.126.212) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 02:02 pm:

My Ignition switch was acting up too. I measured some voltage around my ignition components (I forgot which ones) and I measured 10 volts while trying to start the car, while the battery voltage was higher when starting the car.

So I figured my switch wasn't delivering the power the ignition needed. It was probably old and had some dirty contacts or something.

So I made my own switch. I found the ground wire and the ignition wire in the starter switch harness. I connected a switch that turns on the ignition without the use of a key. However the key was still used to start the car. When the car was started, I turned off the extra switch so the car would turn off normally (with the key).

It was my way of suppling extra power to the ingition components. When ever my car acted up, I simply flipped the hidden switch and away I went.

Darrell

By ddechon (12.91.126.195) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 02:19 pm:

Ok....

You're right errol...it helps to read.

So you don't have a problem with power to the ignition but you can fix the problem the same way.

You can add a switch that will start your motor. You can connect it from your starter wire and the ground wire at the ignition switch harness.

NOTE!!! It's best to use a push button switch because you only want to activate the switch for a moment. If you use a toggle switch you might forget to turn it off and burn up your starter.

You might consider this a temporary fix. If you do a neat job it can be considered permanent. Plus it's kinda cool to start your car with a push button.

If you put a switch there and your starter begins to work normally, then the ignition switch IS the problem.

By errol (205.188.199.28) on Wednesday, October 24, 2001 - 10:59 pm:

WHOA Kids.... there are small half moons of copper in the starter that 'excite' the selenoid to start the engine... if they are too worn or overcome with 'dust' they won't fire, or connect. So it may be a starter problem after all.
Pull it off and check under the little cover where the big wire goes in..

By glen (203.25.25.164) on Thursday, October 25, 2001 - 02:11 am:

I agree with errol's last post. It is probably the starter solenoid. When mine went ,I just went to the wreckers and got a 2nd hand starter. It has worked fine for about 3 years now.

By ddechon (12.78.179.101) on Thursday, October 25, 2001 - 02:48 am:

JMS said his starter worked fine when he shorted it to the battery. You can't short the motor alone. You have to short the solenoid. Therefore, he tested the solenoid and the starter at the same time. They both work.

I think your starter is fine.

Darrell

By errol (152.163.197.62) on Thursday, October 25, 2001 - 06:46 am:

You can easily 'short' bypass the selenoid by running a jumper from the main + lug to the little male spade connector that's not far from it, (It's usually in a plastic housing to prevent arcing)
And sorry for using "little" and "male" in the same sentence! yukyuk

By ddechon (12.91.125.71) on Thursday, October 25, 2001 - 08:26 am:

I also think it's the switch because I've seen so many honda ignition switches go bad. I'm on my 2nd ignition switch and I have a 3rd. My brother had a 1st Gen Prelude with a bad switch. He installed a push button to start his car.

Time for lunch!
Darrell