Last night the battery died due to leaving the lights on the car on. This morning I jumped started the car no problem. Continued my day until the night when I went to start the car and no cranking or clicking was heard. All the lights were on though so I figured the battery was good. I attempted to jump start the vehicle again with no luck. Because I wasn’t home I took desperate measures and pushed the car and conducted a “clutch kick start” with success, and drove home!



When home I turned the car off and attempted to start the vehicle again with negative results.



Based on the car being able to run after the rolling start is it easy to say that it’s probably the starter?

Update: IT WAS INDEED THE STARTER.

 

How far are you driving? It takes time for the charging system to recharge the battery. When you jump start the car you're using the charging system from the other car to start. When you roll start the car you're using gravity/momentum to start. It will take some amount of time/driving to recharge your battery.

 

If you're getting full electric and no click when you turn the key sounds like the starter to me. How many miles does it have? Mine went out at like 175 or so.

 

I’m not sure how long since I’d used it for various small trips. Each trip the car started with no problem. It was the last trip that did not start when I went to the store (15 minutes off) which was weird since the car was just on. I also had a fully charged jump starter kit and that didn’t help either. Maybe the battery was still so low.

Today though I took the battery in for a test and diagnostics. I don’t think the guy who said was an old timer vet about to retire “ I know what I’m doing” guy, even knew what he was doing. He just checked my battery health. I believe he was supposed to charge the battery and see if it holds charge or even run a crank start up test to see if it even has enough juice.

any ways I’m back to square 1 and now I’m home with my car running again so to jump Starting. So I’m doing to just buy a new battery and go from there.

The battery is 4 years old btw

 

has 130k miles. The battery was replaced 4 years ago with a duralast gold. (Out of warranty by now)

I was able to jump start the car again today so looks like a new battery it is. . Needs a new one by now any ways. Also went to get the battery tested and said it was good… but I’m not sure if he did it correctly since he did not fully charge it or even tested to see if it’ll start with a starter.

 

Maybe before you scrap it double check your + - leads and terminals. Hit them with some fine grit sandpaper and some dielectric grease. … although 4 years is about a geriatric battery 👵

 

I would try to fully charge the battery before you give up (trickle charger or a long drive after jumping it), although if you're dealing with a four-year-old battery that you drained completely by leaving the lights on, there's a good chance you've killed it.

The Fit has a small/low capacity from the factory. Starting a car puts a big load on the battery. Driving recharges the battery, but repeated short trips might not allow your battery to recover fully, especially if it's old and/or your weather is cold.

 

yeah I had the terminals cleaned out and still didn’t work. I’m assuming at this point that it’s the battery.

do you happen to know what are my other battery options? Lighter weight and maybe a different battery group? Not many options with 151R

 

Many folks go with a 51R.
Pros: higher capacity, more availability, cheaper (I think)
Cons: physically larger/heavier requiring slight modification of the battery tray

There are many posts here about battery choice and there are Fits using all variety of battery brands/sizes/types for various reasons.

 

Update!
I took the starter off today and went to AutoZone to get tested. They said it passed. Interestingly enough, I’ve read that the solenoid might be the problem as it can pass on the test but fails under load on the car. Either way I’m going to be changing it out since it’s off the car for good insurance.

Things I’ve also done prior to removal of the starter
-checked the grounds.
-starter relay clicks and is good
-ignition switch works due to the relay working and sending signal.
-power to the starter is good

not sure about the clutch saftey switch.. highly doubt it. Not sure how some one test that regardless

 

Thanks for the update! Lettuce know how a new starter works for you

 

Turns out it was the starter. Thank you all for the help.

 

FWIW,, if your battery is dying, it often will take the starter with it if you keep trying to crank it , it can overheat the
contacts in the solenoid (smokes it) or overheat the brushes and it will stop working as well.

 

🙌🙌 solid information