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My 2007 Fit with 365000km (226800mi) just started occasionally refusing to start.
a) About 20-30% of the time for the last 2 weeks, I'll try to start the car and it will crank normally but not actually start.
b) Once it has started, it drives perfectly normal, including idle and full throttle.
c) When it refuses to start, giving it a bit of gas doesn't help.
d) Bump starting does not work either (mine is a manual).
e) It doesn't seem to matter how long it sits before refusing the start. Sometimes it happens first thing in the morning, sometimes it happens in the middle of the day while running errands in situations where everything is warmed up and I've stopped the engine for 5 min to run into a store and then when I come back out, it won't start.
f) When this happens, continuing to crank it longer than normal doesn't help. However, if I continuously take out the key, reinsert it and turn it again, then eventually it will start. So when I get stranded places, I'm typically able to get it started after 5 - 30min of continuously retrying.
I brought it to my mechanic a few days ago and the codes were:
a) 61-1 Modulator control unit initial ignition voltage
b) 22-01 Engine speed signal
c) 12-01 Motor power supply voltage
d) 11-02 Control unit power supply voltage
e) 11-01 Low/High ignition terminal voltage
The mechanic replaced the engine crank sensor but this has not improved the problem.
I've made a video demonstrating the problem. Immediately after I stopped recording, the car started and I drove home.
Do you have a backup key you can use to confirm it's not just the chip in the key you've been using going bad? Your video makes me think the immobilizer system is not recognizing your key. Here's the relevant excerpt from the owner's manual (I highlighted the most important part for you):
Last edited by Jared592; 03-01-2021 at 10:52 AM.
Reason: add image
Chip in the key? Jesus I hope that's not the reason, if so then I just wasted $380 replacing the crank shaft sensor . I mean I do have both keys and one of them is a hack job - it's been dropped so many times that the screw holding it together is no longer effective because the plastic around the screw has cracked. So I ended up GLUING it together and then after a few years when the battery died, I had to saw it apart, replace the battery and then using my fingers to position all the electronics together while gluing the outer shell together again. However, it works for controlling the doors and so I assumed that was the only circuitry involved. Now I'm going to consistently use my non-Frankenstein key and see whether the problem persists.
When the problem happens, I randomly switch between both keys in my continuous attempts to get the car started so I'm 90% confident that the other, undamaged, key has been used without successfully starting the car.... but now I will take that shitty one off my keychain and rigorously use the other one and report back if that fixes the problem.
Actually, reading the paragraph below the one you highlighted reveals that the problem is more likely to be the fact that I have both FOB's on the same keychain..... FML who'd have thought something so banal could cause such headaches
So I removed both keys from the keychain, tried one at a time, and yes the glue-key triggers the anti-theft system every time. The normal key does not. The normal key continues to work even if I put them both back onto the keychain. So the problem was never intermittent. It was only intermittent because my behaviour (which key I use) was random. God dammit. Can't blame anyone but myself for this one, and I'm pretty sure my mechanic's diagnosis was reasonable based on the error codes and the lack of knowledge about my FUBAR'd key.
Ah well, at least you found the source of the problem. Your mechanic could've confirmed the issue wasn't the crank sensor by throwing a scope on it and looking at the signal, but it's hard to find mechanics that know how to do that and have the equipment. Some cars do have issues with crank sensors/ignition switches, but I don't think it's common on Hondas.
03-01-2021 | 05:46 AM
. I mean I do have both keys and one of them is a hack job - it's been dropped so many times that the screw holding it together is no longer effective because the plastic around the screw has cracked. So I ended up GLUING it together and then after a few years when the battery died, I had to saw it apart, replace the battery and then using my fingers to position all the electronics together while gluing the outer shell together again. However, it works for controlling the doors and so I assumed that was the only circuitry involved. Now I'm going to consistently use my non-Frankenstein key and see whether the problem persists.
