rigid niche
I’m troubleshooting a no-crank issue on my 2010 Acura RDX and looking for advice. Originally the car would not crank at all when turning the key. Dash lights came on normally but the starter wouldn’t spin.
Things I checked so far:
• Battery voltage
12.47V with car off. When attempting to start, voltage only dropped to ~11.9–11.7V.
• Jump starting
Tried jump starting from another running car for ~20 minutes and it still would not crank.
• Starter
Removed starter and had AutoZone bench test it. It passed. Reinstalled and the car still wouldn’t crank.
• Starter wiring
Large battery cable connected to starter stud and small starter signal connector plugged in.
• Starter signal test
Unplugged the signal connector and tested with multimeter. Black probe on engine ground, red probe in connector. When key is turned to START I get ~11.8V.
• Fuses
Checked relevant fuses in interior and engine bay fuse boxes. All good.
• Neutral safety switch
Tried starting in both Park and Neutral multiple times.
• Clicks
When turning the key I hear clicks from the interior fuse box, engine bay fuse box, and the starter.
Then I tried grounding the engine directly:
• Connected jumper cable from battery negative to engine block → car started immediately.
• Also starts when grounding battery negative to the transmission case.
However the car will NOT start normally without that jumper cable ground.
Another strange thing: once I start it with the jumper cable, the car will continue to start normally for a few hours even without the cable. But if it sits overnight, the next day it won’t start again unless I do the jumper cable ground again.
Because of that I suspect a bad or weak ground somewhere.
I’ve located three ground wires and took videos of both ends of each one. I’ll post those below. If anyone can watch them and see if anything visually looks wrong (corrosion, broken strands, loose connection, etc.) I’d really appreciate it.
