Ok, I have a 95, 5-speed SOHC with 65k miles. The car has always started fine and runs fine. It idles a little rough at times but I think a tune-up in the spring will fix that.
So my problem is... yesterday I was driving around the city just fine. I parked it and went into a store for about half hour and when I came out, it wouldnt crank, just click click. It was very cold, single digits, so I just figured it was the battery.
So now the car wont jump no matter what I do and I even tried to jump the starter and got nothing. Triple A came and hooked up his jumper box and the meter showed that my battery was fully charged. We gave the starter a few good knocks while trying to click it over, and nothing. We also both took a try at pop starting it and when we popped the clutch, the motor didnt turn over, the wheels just skidded to a stop.
Ok, so I am pretty sure at this point that its the starter, however, why couldnt I pop it? Could the starter be stuck engaged and locking the motor??

I used to pop my escort and had to pop my civic on an occasion or two and they popped pretty easy. Is it possible that the neon needs to be moving a bit faster to turn the motor over? It just felt like a lot of resistance once I let off the clutch.

ANY help will be greatly appreciated.

 

The fact that it's been running rough, and that you've been driving it is a bad indicator as to why it didnt pop when you tried to roll start it.


It should have popped, what gear did you try to pop it in? I'd try 2nd or 3rd depending on how fast you get it, and what surface your on.

~Nate

 

Have you done any work at all on the car lately? Do any of the accessories wokr on the car? Head lights, radio, dome light? A battery can be too "dead" to jump start. Try replacing with a known good working battery.

 

Both attempts to pop it were in first. I was wondering if that may have been the issue.
As far as the rough idle, its not bad, it feels like it needs plugs and wires and maybe clean out the fuel system. It has not had any effect on the car starting or accelerating,,, it even holds a nice steady RPM in idle... just a little rough for my liking.

 

**** UPDATE ****

I took the starter off to have it tested and noticed that the teeth looked a little chewed up, not bad, but noticeable. I stuck my finger in to feel the flywheel to see if any of the teeth were chewed or broken and WTF, there was a washer about the size of a quarter in there and it was all chewed up jammed in the teeth. So this is the reason it would not jump start.
Auto Zone tested the starter and determined it was weak and in need of replacing, just what I was already expecting. So mystery solved.
Thank you all for the suggestions.

 

on my bros rx7 the same exact thing happened. we even rolled the dumb thing down the hill and wouldnt pop start. but we found out that a stupid wire on the starter was not connected and that maybe your problem. idk though.

 

?where did the washer come from?

 

yeah hoe could a washer get stuck perfectly in the teeth like that haha