Hey guys, I'm dealing with an issue with my 2008 Fit Sport 5 speed with 87,000 miles that has me stumped. Randomly the car will have problems starting. The battery is new and I had it tested at O'reiley and Autozone on two different days and the battery is fine. I replaced the spark plugs last week and the starter was replaced earlier this year. I was thinking maybe coil packs but wouldn't I be throwing a CEL for misfires? (maybe someone can shed light on that one) So the only other thing I can think of is something fuel related? I was going to replace the fuel filter this weekend but if anyone has suggestions or insight I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Is it cranking over but not starting, or cranking but not starting? 87K is an early death for a starter nowadays; what was wrong with it?

 

^not sure what exactly was wrong with it, but about a year ago when it would start it would make the sound when it hit the flywheel so I went ahead and replaced it.

I'm confused by your post but I will try and answer without sounding dumb. haha It cranks like it wants to start but doesn't, I have to do turn the key to start about 3 times before it eventually starts then everything is normal.

 

It isn't as much about the miles as it is the way you drive. If someone just goes to work and comes home every day, their starter might last a lot longer than, say, mine, where I start my car 6-8 times every day. I've got 42K and get the grinding noise randomly, will probably have to replace my starter in the next year if it lasts that long.

 

How long do you crank the engine for each time? Don't be afraid to crank for several seconds; I think the manual recommends up to 10 seconds, which feels like a lot longer than that when you're holding the key there and expecting it to fire right up.

Might not hurt to look at the air filter and see if it's dirty if you haven't done that recently. It could also be that the current tank of gas is icky somehow, and the problems will go away when you fill up next time. Finally, if the little key idiot light is illuminated (rather than just flashing momentarily), the immobilizer is having trouble reading the code in the key, which could be a problem with the key itself or something with the immobilizer circuitry in the car. The immobilizer doesn't frequently give problems, though, from what I've been able to glean here.