1992 Honda Accord starter/wiring issue?

[Felonousmelon]

I've recently picked up a 92 accord for a steal of a deal. But it’s got a problem.. 2door exr automatic

Previous owner hooked up the battery backwards. Starter stays engaged only when in park or neutral. So when I start it up, in park or neutral it will stay engaged and continue grinding. The second I put it in gear, it disengages. I'm sure there isn't a problem with the starter, rather something is wrong with the ignition switch.. or something else? Anyone have any suggestions?

[ridin_low07]

May be the starter solenoid staying tripped.

[Ashtrain]

In the start position the Ignition switch black/ white wire sends battery voltage to the under dash fuse panel, from there it travels to the neutral position switch/ gear selector switch then out to the starter solenoid, when you take it out of park or nuetral the starter shouldn't operate ever, your symptoms say that the neutral position switch is operating properly, and so on to the starter, you have a short in that black/ white wire somewhere between the ignition switch and the neutral position switch, if the car was jump started backwards it likely fried something in the underdash fuse panel, test voltage in and out of that panel to start,

[Felonousmelon]

Is it the mostly white wire with black line? On the left side of the steering column? It’s a heavier gauge wire

[aventari]

It certainly sounds like wiring and not a starter/solenoid issue, but you can be sure by testing if the starter and solenoid is sticking. Unplug the small solenoid wire to the starter and then with the car in park or neutral, touch a 12v wire directly from the battery to the solenoid connector on the starter for a second and see if it sticks or if it turns off correctly.

[Felonousmelon]

Hmmm I’ll try that out tomorrow.. I also noticed once I got under the dash that it’s got a remote start installed.. just to complicate things more.. lol. I’m also going to do some continuity test on that black/wire tomorrow.

[F22Chris]

What kind of remote start? You can just unplug that honestly. Doesn’t make anything more difficult unless you want it working.

[Felonousmelon]

I have no need for the remote start.. so if I just unplug it everything will work as if I have no remote start?

[Felonousmelon]

I also noticed that my park lights stay on even if my key isn’t in.. and it will also crank/start as soon as I put the key to on position. Not really sure what the problem is but I sure wanna get this problem figured out.. thanks for all the help guys 🙂

[Ghostwhite]

I have no need for the remote start.. so if I just unplug it everything will work as if I have no remote start?

Depends on how the remote start was wired in but most can be disconnected and run without. If I leave the system in my 92 plugged in the doors will unlock if you knock on the car(trigger the motion sensor).

Unplug it and see how it acts, at worst it just won't start or turn on.

[Felonousmelon]

So disconnect it as take it off the wires that it is spliced into?

[Size9zombie]

You can just unplug the box, or you can remove the remote start completely. It does sound like the remote start is your issue, they are notorious for causing all sorts of electrical problems that range from simple and obvious, to crazy stuff. If you decide to pull it out of the car all together, a word of caution. When you are unwrapping the electrical tape from the large guage wires connected to the ignition switch, do it one at a time as a couple of these wires carry 12 volts whether the ignition is on or not and you don't want them shorting together. Most places that install these types of things dont use crimp connectors, speed nuts, or solder the wire, they just strip back some of the cars wires insulation and wrap the wire from the device around it and tape it.

[Ghostwhite]

Does your autostart have connectors at the autostart brain, if your model doesn't have any connectors for the larger gauge wires then you will have to start unwrapping and cutting. Best to do with the battery disconnected.

Do you know what model of autostart you may have? A lot of them are not labeled but can sometimes be identified by the brain case. Can you get any pics?

[F22Chris]

I have no need for the remote start.. so if I just unplug it everything will work as if I have no remote start?

If it was put in correctly, yes. Remote starts are relay boxes with data modules for newer cars. It ties into the stock wiring, it doesn’t replace it (if done right) in your case it sounds like it wasn’t. You should be able to turn the key and have it work still.. Backwards battery will fuck a lot of stuff up too.

Edit: check the wiring from the remote start to the starter. If it’s a starter kill, and the relay is bad it’ll never start, or it will give the starter power at all times. Also check the soldering on the main relay as that controls the starter. I’ll put money on a failed module relay sticking on 12v constant powering up the main relay or a bad main relay.

[Felonousmelon]

Well I unplugged the remote start module and everything seems to be working normal now!!! The aftermarket deck doesn’t work but that’s all I can see right now.