Hi,

I'm new to the forums. Just some quick background on my car. I bought a 2011 Honda Fit Sport around late January/Early February this year. It has roughly 120k miles on it. My previous car, a 2010 Hyundai Elantra, was totaled from an accident that I had in early January (which I was not at fault for). With me not wanting to go into car payments, and the used car market not exactly being great at the time, that's why I didn't go with something newer and/or with lower mileage. I went with the Fit because in general from what I had researched, it seemed to be a good car, Hondas are known to last a long time, and it was in the price range that I was looking to spend.

Before buying it, I had an independent mechanic shop check it out that came recommended by several family members that use them (I used a Hyundai dealer for my previous car, which wouldn't do me much good for a Honda). Overall everything checked out good.

About a week or two after buying it, one morning it would not start. It was a no crank no start. There wasn't even much clicking. Just turn the key, the dash lights up, but not much else happens. I had it towed to that same shop that checked it out. I forget the exact terms that they used since this was roughly 6 months ago, but they found that some wiring/connection had come loose and it was a quick fix. They didn't charge me anything for that specific service since I had paid them to check the car out a week or two beforehand and they didn't catch that the connection was loose. While it wasn't the cause of the starting problem, at the time they did suggest replacing the battery. They said that when they tested it when I first brought it in, it was showing as being good and not in need of replacement, but now it was showing as fair (or whatever the next level below good would be). The battery was 5 years old (I saw the date myself on the old one), so I did pay to have them replace it.

So here is the main, most recent issue that I am having:
I never had another no start issue after that until this past Saturday (8/26/23). I was out running some errands, mainly picking up a few things that I needed from the pharmacy because I've been battling an illness. After I ran into a store, came back out, and went to start the car, I once again had a No Crank No Start issue. Pretty much the same exact thing that happened back in February. While the timing for these things is never good, this especially sucked since I wasn't feeling well. I attempted a few times to start it, but nothing was happening, so I called for a tow truck through my insurance company.

A few minutes after I made that call, for the heck of it, I attempted to start it again, and that time it started just fine. I immediately called to cancel the tow truck. Since I wasn't sure if I could rely on the car starting again, I had a family member follow me to the mechanic's shop (they are closed on Saturday, but I wanted to leave my car there so I wouldn't have to worry about it being towed again) and give me a ride afterwards.

I'm just curious if anyone has any clue what the issue might be, since it didn't crank when trying to start it, but then started up fine maybe 10 or 15 minutes later?

Like I said above, the battery is new as of a few months ago, and the connections are tight. So while I am no expert, I don't think that would be the issue. I also doubt that it would be an alternator problem as I haven't seen any other signs of there being a problem with it. And when the car did eventually start, it did so quickly and without hesitation.



The only other thing that I will mention is this. While prior to this past weekend, I hadn't had any problems with the car not starting in the past 6 months, over the past few months or so, I have noticed this issue...

When I start the car first thing in the morning, or after it has been sitting for several hours, it seems to take longer to crank and turn over. No terribly so, but it is noticeable. But if I had recently started it (like when I'm out running errands, or even stopping somewhere for an hour or two) and then go and start it, it starts up quickly with no problem. And this past weekend, while it didn't start (and didn't crank) on those first few tries, when it did start, it started up quickly since I had just driven it not long beforehand.

I mention this because I don't know if that would be a related problem or just a coincidence. Back when I first started noticing this longer crank issue, I did some Google searching and if I recall correctly, actually found a thread on this forum in which someone was having a similar problem, but it seemed the consensus in that thread was that it was due to the summer blend of gas and that tending to cause a longer crank time, and that it typically isn't a problem with the winter blend. At the time of reading this, I kind of assumed that might be what was happening with my car as the timing of me starting to notice this roughly coincided with when the switch to the summer blend would occur. And maybe that is still the reason for this specific issue, but now I'm questioning it again since I'm having this no start issue (but again, with no crank).



I spoke to the mechanic shop this morning. They are going to try to get to my car as soon as they can, but they have other appointments already lined up. I'm something of a worrier and overthinker by nature, so when I'm waiting around and not knowing what is going on, my mind can run wild. And while the car fax history of this vehicle was generally good and it checked out well upon inspection before purchase, being that it's a car that I don't have first hand knowledge and experience of it's history, it does add to my anxiety of the situation. So any insight on what the issue might be will be greatly appreciated!

 

I appreciate your thoroughness in communicating the problem. The intermittent nature of your fault lends to the assumption that the problem is electrical - but your mention that the fault seems to be affected engine temperature does call combustion into question.

I can't really give a guess on this one, I'd likely pour in some fuel system cleaner first to see if it affected anything. Might check spark plugs for clues, then move on to electrical diagnostics. Checking relays and such, keeping appraised of battery voltage to see if the alternator's voltage regulator is functioning properly. Checking for loose/damaged wiring. There's also potential for the security system's immobilizer to be involved, but I'd expect that to be fine unless someone previously messed with the car's security system.

Have you've experienced any other anomalous behavior from your car? Poor performance, noises, anything at all while it's running or driving? Any aftermarket electronics, or devices plugged into your OBDII port?

When you go to start your car, do you at times have air conditioning already turned on?

 

My 2010 Fit Sport M/T does this sometimes when the positive(+) battery terminal comes loose over time. I'm too lazy to replace the Power cable from Battery to Starter but I've noticed this similar issue with my car. Also, I've had bad batteries from AutoZone that would last two weeks at most. Maybe check the battery terminals.

Best of Luck.