[hondajoe88]

Hi, I have a nice 1997 Honda Accord LX Wagon, 5-speed manual, non-VTEC. I only put about 50 - 100 miles a month on the car so it has lasted a long time.

Recently, my left-rear brake light/turn signal failed. I put bulbs in so I have to troubleshoot things like fuses. And sometimes water has gotten inside my dash and caused similar problems, sometimes making me think I need to replace the turn signal switch, something I've already had to do anyway before (an easy job other than bending down to take the shrouds off which is hard due to my back troubles). By the way, I've had electrical troubles for months since when I turn my fan on, I see a huge dimming of the lights and stuff. Clearly, I have a short in there somewhere.

Well, anyway, yesterday, my ignition did not turn over. Now, I realize I need to make sure I have a good battery, etc.. It is ENTIRELY possible that a loose positive cable may have contributed to a lack of charging and it is ENTIRELY possible that I will simply sub in a new battery, and voila, my car starts. I do hear a first click but no starter rotation at all, and I have not yet checked solenoid/starter motor with a direct jumper from battery, I will do this in short order.

So here's my question, I only have one before I start checking all of my fuses and do all the things my Honda Service manual says to do when the starter fails to turn over. The question is, suppose I wanted to start my car to back it into the garage before I start working on it - is it ok to hotwire my Honda Accord LX? I know we usually go through a 50Amp fuse (perhaps I can even design a nice, fused hot-wire). I'm simply asking does anyone NOT recommend hot-wiring, that's all. I'm not really worried about this problem - I'm sure I will find the culprit and I'm sure I will get rid of the mice living in my car.

It's funny - I'm not sure if the mice are to blame or not. But I now store my food outside my car so I will vacuum up and they will vacate.

But I'm just looking for an opinion before I start replacing stuff and checking continuity. I might like to jumper to the starter, not just to test the starter, but to start the engine and run the car a little. I also have cats, I will check that the connector(s) to the starter are actually not just knocked off - not an impossible fault.

Anyway, I'll start this job slowly today and probably get more into it tomorrow as I'm not really in a hurry to solve the problem. In the next few days is fine with me.

Thanks.

PS I've now pulled the upper shroud off of the turn signal switch - there are 5 screws, only two of which I still had installed so it was pretty easy - they are small phillips. So I will do this backwards - buy a new battery later today, but first pull the turn signal switch out, try to start, then install new switch and see if turn signal works better. Then I will start checking continuity with a voltmeter. My theory is that perhaps the battery really is down. If I'm wrong, then I'll worry about the ignition wiring to the starter. My starter has two connectors, they are under the distributor and extremely greasy so I will probably have to find a spray to see better.

PSS I've now pulled the old switch, tried to start, put the new one in. Each switch gives same behavior so there is no weird short in the turn signal switch. At least I have a newer one in there. So I need to look further. But when I put the headlights on, the clock on the dashboard dims considerably. So I will again do something simple - buy a new batter and see if I can get enough amps to at least start the engine. Perhaps it's just too much short or too little charging and a new batter would get me going. I would love to get the car going at least once before I put it in the garage.