As any car owner knows, the first step to using your car before you drive it is to start your car. Unfortunately, your car may not start, and there are various reasons as to why your car will not turn on.
If your Honda Civic does not want to start, you may be wondering what the cause is. I did some digging, and here is what I found!
Honda Civic Not Starting? (13 Reasons Why)
Honda Civics will not start due to electrical problems, such as a bad alternator, depleted battery, or bad battery connections. Plus, your problem could be an ignition issue, such as a faulty ignition switch or worn out spark plug. Moreover, you may not have enough fuel in your fuel tank.
Do you want to learn about more reasons why your Honda Civic will not start? I made a list of possibilities below, so read on!
1. Depleted Battery
One of the most common reasons why your Honda Civic will not start is that your car battery has been depleted.
Generally, your car needs the battery to start because the battery provides energy needed to start the electrical components of your car.
Normally, you will know that you have a dead battery if you do not hear your engine turn over when you try to start your car and if your dome light will not switch on.
2. Faulty Alternator
If your battery is fine, your Honda Civic may not start because you have a faulty alternator.
An alternator turns mechanical energy to electrical energy and recharges your battery, so a faulty alternator will not provide enough power to your car battery.
Usually, you can tell if you have a bad alternator when your interior lights turn on then dim quickly and if your check engine light illuminates on your dashboard.
3. Bad Battery Connection
When you have a recharged battery and nothing is wrong with your alternator, you likely have a bad battery connection.
You can have a bad battery connection when the cable connections for your battery are loose or torn.
Additionally, bad battery connections can occur from battery corrosion, which occurs because the battery acid reacted with metal terminals.
4. Blown Fuse
Various electrical parts of your car have fuses that protect the main units from damage, but when a fuse is blown your Honda Civic will not start.
For instance, a blown fuse will not let power reach the starter relay, so there will be no ignition or spark required by your engine to start.
Usually, a blown fuse just needs to be replaced with a new and compatible fuse to fix the issue.
5. Car Is Not In Neutral Or Park
Generally, your car has to be in the right gear to start, so you need to have your car in neutral or park for it to start.
As such, you can check what gear your Honda Civic is in and shift gears accordingly before you start your car again.
For instance, if your car is on drive or reverse when you try to start your car, your car will refuse to start.
6. Dead Battery In Key Fob
If you use a key fob and have a push-start system Honda Civic, you may have dead batteries in your key fob.
Normally, your Honda Civic won’t start because the button will not receive a signal when you use a key fob with a dead battery.
Therefore, you need to find out what batteries your key fob uses and replace the batteries to start your Honda Civic.
In rare cases, your key fob could also be broken due to physical damage or wear and tear, which means you need a new key fob.
7. Ignition Switch Problems
Your ignition switch is in charge of moving power from your car’s battery to the rest of the car, so having an issue with your ignition switch wil not let your car start.
For instance, there will be no power in your car’s ignition switch or starter motor with a faulty ignition switch, so your car will not turn on.
Usually, you can tell that you have a problem with your ignition switch when your car key will not turn, you have flickering dashboard lights, and a silent starter motor.
8. Spark Plug
Most cars require a combustion to start using a spark from a spark plug and mixture of fuel and air in the combustion chamber.
Occasionally, your spark plug can wear out, which means there will be no spark to ignite the fuel and air mixture.
Luckily, you can easily solve this issue by replacing your spark plug with a new one to give your engine the spark it needs to start.
9. Faulty Starter Motor
A starter motor is responsible for rotating the internal combustion engine to start the car.
Additionally, there is a starter solenoid attached to the starter motor that moves the electrical current from your car battery to the starter motor.
When the starter solenoid or starter motor is faulty, turning the ignition key on will not start your car.
Usually, you can tell that you have a faulty starter solenoid or starter motor when you hear whirring or grinding noise while trying to start the car.
Additionally, another sign is that you have a very slow engine crank when you try to turn on your Honda Civic.
10. Lack Of Gas
While this may seem like an obvious reason, you may not have enough gas in your car’s fuel tank.
Cars require gas to function, and having little to no gas in your fuel tank will keep your car from starting.
If you find that you are losing gas fairly quickly, there is a chance that you have a leak in your car’s fuel system that needs to be repaired.
However, if you have some gas in your fuel temperature but the are sub-freezing temperatures outside, you may have a frozen fuel line.
11. Worn Out Timing Belt
Generally, most cars have a timing belt, which is a rubber strip that will rotate the crankshaft and cam in your engine at the right time.
When your timing belt is worn out and cannot turn, your Honda Civic engine will not turn on when you try to start it.
Occasionally, you may hear a ticking noise from under your car’s hood when your timing belt is worn out.
Since it is impossible to repair a timing belt, you need to completely replace your timing belt to solve your problem.
12. Ground Cable Wiring Issue
Your ground cable, also called the negative battery cable, is a battery cable that connects your car’s battery to your car’s body.
If something is wrong with your ground cable, such as a tear, your car’s power will be cut off and your car will not start.
This is because the ground cable allows energy to flow through nearly every electrical components of the car, so it is the heart of your electrical system.
Some signs that your ground cable has a problem are flickering or dim dome lights, hard starting, damaged cables or throttles, and a defective fuel pump.
13. Blocked Fuel Filter
Fuel filters are in charge of filtering any contaminants that may be in fuel before the fuel goes into the fuel tank.
When these filters get clogged, fuel will struggle or not pass through the filter, so there will be no fuel in your fuel tank, and your car will not start without fuel.
Typically, a partially clogged fuel filter will still let a car start because some fuel will be entering the fuel tank.
However, a completely clogged fuel filter will be a problem, and you will need to replace the fuel filter before or when this occurs.
Generally, you can check out your Honda Civic’s car manual to see how often you should replace your fuel filters, which is normally every 50,000 miles or 5 years.
However, older models of Honda Civics may need more frequent changes than the newer models.
Moreover, using poor quality fuel may require more fuel filter changes because the filters will be collecting more contaminants.
To know more, you can also read our posts on Honda Accord not starting, Honda Civic not starting, and Honda Civic ignition coil symptoms.
Conclusion
When a Honda Civic does not want to start, you may have an electrical issue, such as a dead battery or faulty alternator.
Additionally, issues with your fuel, such as a clogged fuel filter or lack of fuel, can keep your Honda Civic from starting.