2004 CVT starter motor

[guest7574]

Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum so I will introduce myself and my Honda.
My name is Helen and I live in the North East of England.
My Honda is a 2004 Jazz SE with CVT  gears.

Unfortunately in the snow today I broke down - the Honda would not start. It would struggle to turn over about once every 2 seconds the starter tries to turn but never fast enough to start it. I believe the battery to be good as it started ok this morning after a very cold night. However once I had stopped it would not restart. I have had to get it recovered to my home address.
I have been told it may be the starter motor. Is this a common issue with the Jazz.
Does anyone on here know if the starter motor is the same for both a manual and CVT car.
If it is different for my CVT does anyone know a part number
Thanks a lot in anticipation of a little help. 

[VicW]

Hi Helen,
               I have never heard a starter motor mentioned in this forum before so they appear to be reliable.
Batteries,however, have a finite life and cold weather soon sorts them out even if the car did start first thing in the morning. The symptoms you describe are those of a flat battery.
Do you know how old the battery is? Presumably there wasn't a battery charging/alternator warning light on in the dashboard display?
I doubt that the starter motor is different for the CVT but where ever you bought the starter motor from would know, should it turn out to be that.

Vic.

[culzean]

I would suspect the battery,  it will be quicker, cheaper and easier to replace than starter motor.  Get a Yuasa calcium or silver battery,  a CVT needs a good battery anyway as you can't bump start them. When my wife had a CVT I got the best battery I could for it.

[Jocko]

Welcome to the forum. Sorry it was this set of circumstances that brought you here! If it will jump start, it is not the starter motor. Definitely sounds to me like the battery. When my battery failed I had put it in the garage with no problem, then later went to bring it back out and it wouldn't turn over. That is the way of failing batteries, And it wasn't even cold!

[MikeG1944]

Just because the battery worked first time you can't trust it; they get intermittent connections internally; working one moment and not the next. I had a van with the same problem once. Just replace the battery with a good one, as has been said, you can't bump start a CVT.

[olduser1]

In adverse condition the starter can 'freeze' , highly unlikely to be a failed starter on a Jazz.
The first check would be the battery condition either with a volt meter or a battery charger, if older than 5 years consider a quality make replacement, otherwise re charge overnight   then attempt to start.
The other members comments mention Yuasa  can be found on E bay from £45 inc del

[JohnAlways]

Hi and welcome Helen.

I agree with all of the above, this is the way batteries behave. The battery can refresh itself a little between starting attempts if left for a little time.

"It would struggle to turn over about once every 2 seconds the starter tries to turn but never fast enough to start it".
Batteries can be fickle but yours sounds a pretty classic case. As Jacko said a jump start will pretty much confirm if it is battery or not.

Another thing I have found to be aware of:the batteries are quite small, don't sit in car parks with CD playing or other accessories running as they can run down quite quickly. There is very little space to upgrade the battery in a jazz and the only effort I've seen involved cutting the battery tray and clamps to accommodate a bigger battery.

if you think of this morning: Very Cold, wipers on, heater on full, rear windscreen heater, heated mirrors perhaps a lot of battery drain. i don't know how long your journey was but will take a lot of miles to recharge after that drain especially on a batter not 100%. incidentally of you have a battery with the little green indicator in it, that only monitors ONE cell in the battery, that one may be fine and another five not.

If you don't know how old your battery is then go for it first, you won't have lost anything by replacing an older battery anyway and like the rest I'm sure you will find your problem has gone.

[sparky Paul]

You really need to find out if it is the battery or indeed the starter motor, or even a bad connection such as the engine earth strap - which can show up intermittently.

The symptoms you describe do point to a weak battery, and you always have to suspect battery first when problems start with cold weather. If the car would start with jump leads to another vehicle, then this would certainly point to battery. If it still struggled, then that would point to the starter, or a bad connection somewhere. Any starter motor can fail, especially if it has done plenty of miles of short journeys, but it's wise to eliminate the cheaper options first.

I think the CVT auto starter is different to those fitted to the manual, but any decent auto factor should be able to supply a recon unit from the registration mark. Alternatively, there are plenty of used ones about - there are a few different part numbers used, but I believe all the mark 1 auto starters fit the same.