2000 Honda Accord Cranking Problem

Hi millca2002; Randy here.

People will be reluctant to answer a question that doesn't make sense. Your description is very confusing. "Loose its crank"? Hand cranks were last used in the 1930s when the electric starter motor was developed. No one will understand what "had to keep brake and accelerator going at same time" has to do with starting the engine. I'm not sure if the starter doesn't work at all or if the engine starts and stalls. One of the other guys was just as confused in your previous post.

There are many relays under the hood. The main relay isn't involved with the starter. The first thing you must try to do is listen very carefully when it doesn't crank, ideally under the hood while a helper turns the ignition switch to "crank". If you hear a single loud clunk each time the ignition switch is turned, the electrical contacts are worn in the starter solenoid, or one of the battery cables has a partially broken or corroded section near the battery cable clamp. The solenoid contacts almost always start out as an intermitent problem that gets progressively worse over weeks and months. Normally temperature shouldn't have an effect on this problem, but that isn't definite.

If you don't hear that single loud clunk from the starter, the next thing to listen to is the starter relay. If it clicks, suspect its contacts or the wiring to the starter. If it doesn't click, suspect a problem with the neutral safety switch or its wiring. The key is to be ready to make some voltage measurements while the problem is acting up. If it cranks in neutral but not in park, suspect the neutral safety switch.

As for your previous post, two different people asked followup questions or gave you things to try so you could reply with additional observations. They aren't psychic and they can't diagnose your problem when you won't provide any help. We can't see or hear what's happening. I suspect your problem has a very easy fix, but there are so many things that could cause a failure to crank, we have to narrow it down through use of any clues, hints, or observations you can provide. Some of the people on this site will be able to solve the problem but someone is going to have to perform the diagnostic steps.

Thank you for your previous donation, but think of it as a tip, not a requirement. I try to answer every question I can, donation or not. I just hit the ones with donations first because those people are usually very willing to put the effort into solving their problem. Since I average 50 answers per day, it's hard to get to all of the questions.

Caradiodoc

OK, things are starting to come together. This isn't a starting / cranking problem. It sounds like the engine wants to stall unless you hold the gas pedal down a little. By "start the car", I think you mean when you start moving, not starting the engine.

Problems like this can be very hard to find when they don't act up very often. One thing the dealer can do is connect a hand-held computer called a scanner, then drive the car until the problem occurs. Their scanner has a record / playback feature that shows what all the sensors are doing. When the problem shows up, they will press the "record" button. It will record the information in memory from a few seconds before they pressed the buton, until a few seconds after. Later they can play it back and look for any sensor reading that can provide a clue.

As far as trading the car on a newer one, don't be worried about it having a problem. As a courtesy, all you have to do is tell them about it. They expect trade-in cars to have problems. After they perform a safety inspection and normal maintenance, they can drive the car until they find the problem. The typical things that cause this type of problem include intermittent sensors, corroded or loose pins in electrical connectors, and corroded or rusty ground wires where they're bolted to the body.

Caradiodoc