I just bought a 2015 Honda Fit GK5. Currently, when starting the engine, sometimes it starts right away, but other times there’s only a clicking sound from the solenoid—no rotation from the starter motor’s pinion. The battery has already been replaced with a new one, and the starter relay has been checked and is working properly. Could the issue be with the starter motor itself? Any suggestion ? Thank you .

 

Do you have key start or push button start?

 

If you have a push start button,

You have the dreaded push start button problem.

Take your Fit to your local Honda Dealer for the free no charge replacement of the start button.

 

Replace the starter.

 

Never heard of this. Is it part of some recall or is it just going to keep happening again and again over time?

 

This forum is full of threads about pushbutton start problems. Almost as common as missing or breaking undershield fasteners.

 

It could be the push button start button but if you are hearing the solenoid clicking I would suspect this is more likely to be starter failure. The push button thing is an extended warranty:

Honda Service Bulletin 20-098

 

Clicking is most likely the starter itself.

I had the push button problem and the starter is still good. I did not ever hear just the pinion gear actuated out without spinning, that is the click you are hearing.

 

I do not use a push-button start/stop engine. I still use a manual key. The + cable from the battery to the starter dynamo and - cable has been cleaned. The starter relay has been checked, and it is functioning properly.I'm going to disassemble the starter motor—it seems the problem is inside the starter itself.

Does anyone have a tutorial on how to disassemble a starter motor? I can't loosen the bolt because the access is very difficult for me.

Thank you very much.

Below is my engine start problem video


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ksr...ew?usp=sharing



grounding cable

 

If you can hear the solenoid snap in but the motor doesn't spin, it's a problem in the starter motor/solenoid assembly.
The solenoid has two jobs - first it extends the starter pinion gear to engage the flywheel. When it reaches the end of travel (pinion teeth in mesh with the flywheel) it acts like a (very high current) relay, connecting the battery cable post to the starter motor. The contacts associated with that relay functionality could be worn, dirty and/or damaged.

It's also possible the problem is with the starter motor itself. The starter motor is a classic brushed DC motor. "Brushed" refers to how the motor controls its electromagnet coils to keep the motor spinning. The spinning portion of the motor (rotor or armature) has a series of contacts arranged in a ring around the motor shaft, called the commutator. Each commutator contact is connected between two of the electromagnet coils on the rotor, which are all wired in a loop going around the rotor. The brushes are blocks of electrically conductive carbon or carbon/copper, mounted to the body of the motor and spring-pressed against the commutator, which carry electrical power from the stationary body of the motor to the commutator contacts on the spinning rotor.
There are two common failure modes:
First is the brushes wear down to the point that the spring isn't applying pressure anymore, or the brush isn't being held squarely against the commutator. Tapping on the motor with a percussive instrument can sometimes let the bad brush re-connect with the commutator for another starting cycle or two. Brushes can be replaced, but it requires disassembling the motor.
Second, a commutator contact becomes disconnected from its coils. If the starter motor stops with a brush on that bad contact, power can't get to the rotor coils, the motor doesn't spin. If the motor can somehow be rotated off that bad contact, it should work again (with slightly reduced power) until it stops on that bad contact again. Repair requires disassembly, possibly replacing the whole commutator ring.

 

Get a new starter.

 

... When you return your old starter for the core charge, they ship it to a refurb business that cleans it and does the diagnostic and repair I described above. It then gets boxed up in a fancy color-print branded box, shipped to a store for resale while turning a profit. Some people prefer to do it themselves to not only save money, but make sure it's done right.

 

I had the same problem. I had to push the button repeatedly for minutes until it would start. Ended up being a worn our starter.

 

It just occurred to me that a disconnected battery lead to the starter could also cause a solenoid-click-no-spin condition. Though that should only be a thing after disconnecting the battery lead and forgetting to reconnect it.
A naturally occurring failure (due to corrosion or manufacturing defect) should begin with the starter getting progressively more sluggish, then go through a phase where the damaged area generates enough heat to burn off the wire insulation, throw sparks, drop molten metal, etc. If that were happening on Fits in any significant numbers, there would be a recall or at least a maintenance bulletin about it.

This style of Honda negative terminal clamp is as old as time. My '91 CRX had one. As long as the contact surfaces between the terminal and battery post are clean, and there's still a gap between the bolt-tabs when installed and tightened down, it should be fine. If the terminal gets over-tightened, the metal gets re-shaped such that inner edge of the tabs become part of the post-contacting-barrel. That makes the barrel bigger and the gap disappear, such that the terminal can't be tightened enough to make a solid connection. The bolt should be just tight enough that you can't twist the terminal clamp on the battery post.

 

Finally, I found the root cause, and everything is okay now. I opened the starter engine, replaced this part, and now it's working properly.
Thank you everyone, for your help and information.



This is the root cause

 

Thanks for the pics.
That looks like the high-current solenoid/switch contacts for the starter motor. There's usually two part-circles (the extra-crispy part) on opposite sides of the solenoid shaft - one connected to the battery, one connected to the starter motor. The disk (attached to the shaft) pushes down on them to connect the circuit.

Do you have a pic of the parts in place? It could help others considering the repair. Where did you get the replacement parts?

For those following along, that's the brush holder plate and brushes. The blocks extending towards the center are the brushes. The top left brush has popped out of it's holder - no big deal, it just slides back in. The springs that push the brushes towards the center can be seen through the big hole in each brush holder. There's often a small hole in each brush holder to let you push the brush all the way in, then insert a pin through the hole to keep it there while installing the brush holder on the motor shaft. Sometimes not and it becomes a I-need-4-hands-and-tiny-fingers or fabricobble-a-special-tool situation. Each brush has a heavy braided wire attached to let it slide in and out of the holder while assuring a solid electrical connection.
These brushes appear to have plenty of life left in them. The wear face is the narrow end facing the center of the plate. When the brushes are worn down to near the wire, consider replacement. The left two wires and brushes attach to the base plate (motor housing, which should be electrical ground, negative). The right two attach to an electrically isolated plate which is the motor positive terminal. It looks like all the braided wire-to-plate connections are welded, so the whole plate assembly needs to be replaced as a unit.

 

What is that part?
Edit: Sorry, I somehow missed the explanation.

 

Did you say "starter engine?"

 

Hi Bobski,

Thank you for your detailed explanation for the other readers. I couldn’t explain it as thoroughly as you did because my English isn’t very fluent.

I’m trying to share my knowledge and experience in repairing this starter dynamo. Replacement parts are available in my city, but they must be the exact same size as the old ones. Before dismantling this motorcycle starter, I initially bought the wrong brass part—it cost about $2 and wasn’t returnable. So, I bought it again, this time bringing a sample to ensure the correct fit.

I recently purchased this car from another owner, and it doesn’t have a maintenance history, so I’m inspecting and repairing everything myself. Right now, I’m checking the shock absorbers. I think there should be a dust cover for the rubber stop —what do you think? Thank you

 

The Honda parts diagrams don't show a cover. It shows the bump stop above the rock guard as seen in your picture. The bump-stops should (ideally) never get used. They exist to try to stop an extreme impact before it crushes the shock absorber tube or does structural damage to the vehicle. If seeing them exposed really bothers you, you could put some black shrink tubing or bicycle tire inner-tube over them.