Car sitting up now won't start

cruizer101 · 09-09-2014 10:35am #1

So I've a car which has been sitting up a while (~3 months, stupid me meant to go start it up every week or two but didn't). Anyway went to start it last night and no surprise it didn't start.

What happened was, it sound like the starter turned over but very slowly and then just stopped. I then hooked up some jump cables and tried again and the same happened and it sounded the same. Now the fact that with the jump cables hooked up it still sounded the same makes me think it might not be that the battery is just dead and that something else may be seized or stiff.

So looking for advice what to do. Some ideas I had were to try turn engine over by hand a few times just to loosen it up, was thinking of putting in 5th jacking up one side and rotating the wheel. Had also half thought of putting drop of oil in cylinders while doing this. Also maybe to try put a drop of petrol in cylinders before starting.

Then again maybe its that my starter is gone after sitting idle for that long, I recall hearing about tapping with a spanner while trying to start to loosen it up, does this work, not sure though as I say sounds like is turning over slowly and then stopping.

Any and all advice appreciated, car is 97 1.4 Honda Civic if that helps.

jimgoose · 09-09-2014 10:38am

How long did you turn it over while on jump-leads, and what were you jumping it with? It should shake off the cobwebs after a while, I wouldn't expect the thing to be that out-of-it after three months.

JoeySully · 09-09-2014 10:40am

Being a honda you could probably leave it for 10 years and it would turn freely.
Id get a multi meter and check the battery. If its low, 12v or less then charge it up overnight. Are you jump leads good? Are your terminals clean and making a good connection? Maybe try using the earth direct to the engine rather than the negative terminal.

LookBehindYou · 09-09-2014 10:43am

Get stronger jump leads.

cruizer101 · 09-09-2014 11:01am

The car I'm jumping it off is a 2.0l Honda accord so should be plenty enough juice in it to do the job. Think the jump leads are decent enough, no mean the best but not the worst either.

To be fair I didn't try for too long yesterday as had to head out. I had the negative attached to the civic body. Car is out on the road so not ideal for leaving charging overnight. I'll have another go this evening, give the terminals a clean and that and leave the jump leads on a while to try build up some charge.

djimi · 09-09-2014 11:06am

JoeySully wrote: »

Being a honda you could probably leave it for 10 years and it would turn freely.

My old Accord was parked up in the elements for over a year and started first turn of the key :pac: That thing was a absolute trooper in fairness.

hallo dare · 09-09-2014 11:07am

I had the same issue with an avensis before, luckily there's a hill down from my house. Had 2 lads push it as I done the lazy part and sat in with it in 2nd gear and the clutch pressed, then as I picked up speed i kept turning it over and release the clutch and reved the hell out of it. Took her for a good long spin after that.

She's going ever since.

Bigus · 09-09-2014 11:26am

cruizer101 wrote: »

The car I'm jumping it off is a 2.0l Honda accord so should be plenty enough juice in it to do the job. Think the jump leads are decent enough, no mean the best but not the worst either.

To be fair I didn't try for too long yesterday as had to head out. I had the negative attached to the civic body. Car is out on the road so not ideal for leaving charging overnight. I'll have another go this evening, give the terminals a clean and that and leave the jump leads on a while to try build up some charge.

Take the battery out and charge it overnight, or replace.

biko · 09-09-2014 11:35am

Connect jump leads but wait 10 mins before trying to start it.

dooroy · 09-09-2014 12:45pm

As biko says ; a 'dead' battery will drop the output from a good one so you may think you have 2 bad batteries .
And even if the jump leads are fairly light they will certainly be able to charge up the dead battery. Also if still having problems you could check the battery connections - being tight doesn't always mean they're good .

dougie-lampkin · 09-09-2014 12:47pm

dooroy wrote: »

...Also if still having problems you could check the battery connections - being tight doesn't always mean they're good .

Always worth checking the earth strap is good also, by running a spare jump lead from the battery neg terminal to the engine block. The earth strap does degrade over time even if the battery connection is tight

dgt · 09-09-2014 2:27pm

I've seen ECU's f*cked by letting the battery go dead. No amount of jumping will save it.

Better hope this isn't the case

cruizer101 · 09-09-2014 3:06pm

dgt wrote: »

I've seen ECU's f*cked by letting the battery go dead. No amount of jumping will save it.

Better hope this isn't the case

Hope not, all the dash lights and that still come on so hopefully not that.

Atlantic Dawn · 09-09-2014 6:32pm

Take the battery out of the Accord and stick it in your car, if it starts you need to either recharge or replace your own battery.

CJhaughey · 10-09-2014 10:25am

cruizer101 wrote: »

I had the negative attached to the civic body. .

Try attaching it to the actual engine, body may not always give great contact.
Start donor car and idle for 10 minutes, then when you try to start your car bring the donor cars revs up to 1500 or so rpm and hold them there while you try to start yours.

cruizer101 · 11-09-2014 10:24am

Thanks all for the advice, the jump leads I had weren't actually great ones, they were 10mm ones which said suitable for up to 1500cc so I went and picked up a set of 25mm suitable for up to 5000cc (maybe overkill but they were only a fiver more than 16mm for 2000cc). Hooked them up connecting the negative to an engine mount and left it a minute or two and Bob's your uncle it started grand.

There was however another problem, at some stage my Dad had moved the car and reefed up the handbrake on it, why I'm not sure its on a flat road. Anyway the rear brakes were seized so took a bit of 1st, reverse, 1st, reverse, 1st.... rockin back and forth to free them but thats grand now.

Now the problem is it is rough idling, normally idles ~700rpm , its now going between 500 and 1500. Its strange because when started initially it was grand it was just after a few minutes it started, so now have to try diagnose that.

Might try new sparks and air filter, check nothing set up a nest in the air intake while it was sitting up, any other suggestions welcome on how to diagnose it. I hear coil pack and cables can be common reason for it too.

Thanks again for the advice, any other advice on what to do other than start it every week or so, as it will be sitting up a while longer yet, are more than welcome.

biko · 11-09-2014 3:45pm

I'd top up with fresh petrol and a full bottle of Dipetane, then go down the motorway in high revs (car must be at full operating temp first) to blow out the cobwebs..
But yeah, have a look at the air filter, it's good to do occasionally anyway.

JohnBoy26 · 11-09-2014 6:50pm

cruizer101 wrote: »

Thanks all for the advice, the jump leads I had weren't actually great ones, they were 10mm ones which said suitable for up to 1500cc so I went and picked up a set of 25mm suitable for up to 5000cc (maybe overkill but they were only a fiver more than 16mm for 2000cc). Hooked them up connecting the negative to an engine mount and left it a minute or two and Bob's your uncle it started grand.

There was however another problem, at some stage my Dad had moved the car and reefed up the handbrake on it, why I'm not sure its on a flat road. Anyway the rear brakes were seized so took a bit of 1st, reverse, 1st, reverse, 1st.... rockin back and forth to free them but thats grand now.

Now the problem is it is rough idling, normally idles ~700rpm , its now going between 500 and 1500. Its strange because when started initially it was grand it was just after a few minutes it started, so now have to try diagnose that.

Might try new sparks and air filter, check nothing set up a nest in the air intake while it was sitting up, any other suggestions welcome on how to diagnose it. I hear coil pack and cables can be common reason for it too.

Thanks again for the advice, any other advice on what to do other than start it every week or so, as it will be sitting up a while longer yet, are more than welcome.

Its more than likely an idle air control valve issue. It might need to be cleaned and if that doesn't solve it(it should) then replacement idle air control valve may be needed.

Id drive it for about a week first to see if it corrects itself as sometimes it can(my one did after a few days)

Check that their is enough of coolant first though as that can cause rough running too.

there is no coil packs in civics of that vintage and leads don't really cause the symptoms you are describing.

Car sitting up now won't start

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