Author Topic: After ignition - power went down + strange noises from the engine compartment  (Read 2245 times)

CarJackManDoe

  • Registered Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9
  • Country: il
  • My Honda: Jazz 2003 Manual
Hello,

Something very strange happened last night and I wanted to ask for an opinion from more experienced people than myself.
Here is a step by step recap of what I did and what was happening to the car:
1. Parked the car and went for a meeting. (car behaves normally)
2. Return from a meeting after 2 hours and enter the car, the car looks the same, no signs of hits or anything (also no rain in those 2 hours).
3. Put the key in the ignition and immediately try to start the car.
4. The lights turn on for a brief moment, the starter just started to make a sound and immediately all the power went down, turning the key back and fourth didn't change anything.
5. I take the key out of the ignition and start to hear a strange noise coming from the engine compartment.
6. I open the hood and hear very loud "quaking" noises coming from the left side of the engine compartment (not the engine). At first I thought the noise sounds like some fluid under pressure, but then I think it also could be similar to some electric short noises.
7. The noises continue for about a minute then stop, then start again after 10-20 seconds. The noises goes on for about 10 minutes, sometimes stopping and then starting again.
8. I couldn't think of anything I could do, I checked the engine oil and it looked fine. After around 10 minutes I tried inserting the keys again in the ignition and still no response.
9. I finally thought about disconnecting and reconnecting the battery.
10. After I reconnected the battery the alarm immediately started going off. I couldn't hear any noises coming from the engine compartment.
11. After waiting for a few minutes without noises I inserted the keys into the ignition and everything looked normal, the power was back on and the car started normally.
12. After that I couldn't hear any strange sounds and the car behaved normally.


I would like to know if anyone had similar experience? and whether I should get it checked, I don't really know what to say to the mechanic if I went there.


I recorded a video of the noises, the microphone is *********** so it sounds a bit different in the video (In the video it might sound similar to "mechanical" noise coming from a small engine, but in reality it didn't sound like anything mechanical, and as I said, the car was completely dead, keys out of the ignition).
Also, it sounded like the noise comes of the black thing on the shock absorber housing or somewhere in it's vicinity.
The noises at the start is from a passing vehicle.
Hope some of you could help me with that.
The car is a 2003 jazz (made in japan)
« Last Edit: September 06, 2018, 09:56:37 AM by CarJackManDoe »

Jocko

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
It sounds like a solenoid clacking. Perhaps there was a poor connection on the battery which caused the alarm solenoid to drop in and out. I had a similar experience once, with my Vauxhall Cavalier. It had been standing for a while, and when I came to start it the alarm started clattering like that and I had to disconnect the battery to stop the noise. My battery was flat, but a poor connection at the battery could give the same symptoms as a flat battery.

madasafish

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1953
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 1.4 ES CVT -2012
I agree. Solenoids use mechanical breaking/remaking of a switch to control high currents.If they are worn, they alternate between on/off very quickly.If the starter motor solenoid did that, the battery would have alternating bursts of high/no current drain and voltage would be all over the place..which is consistent with what you saw.

Either leave it or get a specialist auto electrician to look at it..  which could costs £££s with no guarantee they would find the fault..
(Congrats on videoing it quite well)

CarJackManDoe

  • Topic Starter
  • Registered Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9
  • Country: il
  • My Honda: Jazz 2003 Manual
Thanks everyone, that sounds about right.
Even though I changed the battery recently and cleaned the cables a bit there is probably still some oxidation left on the cables. I will try to clean everything and if the problem persist maybe I will check with an electrician.

Thanks again for your help, I'm really glad there are people on the internet I can count on

Jocko

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
If you can, check the earth strap to the engine. Make sure the ends of that are clean. After cleaning battery terminals I always smear them with Vaseline Petroleum Jelly, to prevent further corrosion returning.

CarJackManDoe

  • Topic Starter
  • Registered Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9
  • Country: il
  • My Honda: Jazz 2003 Manual
If you can, check the earth strap to the engine. Make sure the ends of that are clean. After cleaning battery terminals I always smear them with Vaseline Petroleum Jelly, to prevent further corrosion returning.

Thanks, thats a good suggestion, I should really check the grounding also because I hear electrical buzzing noise from the radio (probably caused by bad grounding). Do you know by any chance where is the connection located in 2003 jazz? I couldn't find anything helpful on google probably because I didn't search for the right terms

culzean

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 8017
  • Country: england
Solenoid and starter motor on right of engine (looking from front of bonnet) same side as flywheel and clutch / gearbox. Whirring noise may have been ABS pump (on drivers side of engine near suspension top of shock absorber). May also be a problem with starter motor brushes causing arcing or solenoid contact, this would cause radio interference.

Some times a bad connection to battery or earth can cause a vicious circle by causing loss of power when under load, so as soon as solenoid contacts close and put starter motor into circuit (which draws a few hundred amps) the system voltage drops too low to keep solenoid energised so it drops out, as soon as it drops out and disconnects starter the voltage rises, the solenoid closes again, causing voltage to drop ..............and so on. 

« Last Edit: September 07, 2018, 06:50:42 PM by culzean »
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

sparky Paul

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 3436
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 2015 GG6 Jazz EX 1.4 I-VTEC / 2008 GE3 Jazz SE 1.4 i-DSI
Something certainly has a chatter on, sounds like a demented frog!  :)

It does sound rather like a solenoid armature, or something similar, hitting a mechanical stop.

The only other thing I've heard similar to that was a knackered car hooter...
« Last Edit: September 07, 2018, 06:46:48 PM by sparky Paul »

Tags:
 

Back to top