How To Test The Starter Motor (1997-2001 2.0L Honda CR-V)

This tutorial will help you to test the starter motor on the 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 2.0L Honda CR-V.

You can test the starter motor yourself with three simple tests. The results of these tests will let you know if the starter motor is defective or not and without having to remove it from the vehicle.

You can find this tutorial in Spanish here: Cómo Probar El Motor De Arranque (1997-2001 2.0L Honda CR-V) (at: autotecnico-online.com).

Important Safety Tips And Precautions

TIP 1: The three tests in this tutorial are all on car tests. You'll notice in the illustrations that the starter motor is removed (from the vehicle), but this is done only to facilitate the explanation of your test connections.

If you have removed it, you can bench-test it and the following tutorial will help you: Bench Testing The Starter Motor.

TIP 2: Before you begin any of the tests, you need to make sure that the battery is fully charged. Testing the starter motor without a fully charged battery will give you false test results that will end up making you replace good parts.

It's also very important that the battery terminals and post be absolutely clean before starting any of the tests.

TIP 3: If your Honda CR-V comes equipped with a standard transmission, be sure and place it's in neutral before starting any of the tests. Don't forget to activate the parking brake.

TIP 3: You may need to raise your vehicle, with a jack, to access the starter motor. Don't trust the jack to keep your Honda CR-V up in the air, use jack stands!

Symptoms Of A Bad Starter Motor

The most common problem you're going to see, on your Honda CR-V when the starter motor fails, is that the engine won't turn over when you try to crank it and get it started.

Another very common type of failure is an intermittent failure of the starter motor. This happens when the starter motor works some of the time but not all of the time. In these intermittent type of problems you'll need to wait till the starter won't crank the engine to test it.

You'll see one of the following symptoms when the starter motor fails:

1. When you turn the key to start your the engine, nothing happens.
2. Jump starting the engine doesn't make it crank over.
3. The battery has been charged and/or replaced and still your Honda CR-V does not crank.
4. When you turn the key to crank the engine, all you hear is a small knock and nothing else.

As you can see, the theme that runs thru' most of the symptoms of a bad starter motor is that the engine will not crank over when you try to start it.

Tools Needed To Test The Starter Motor

You don't need expensive test equipment to test the starter motor on your 2.0L equipped Honda CR-V. Here are my recommendations:

1. Remote starter switch.
   • If you'd like to see what a remote starter switch looks like, you can follow this link: Sunpro Actron CP7853 Remote Starter Switch.
   • You can either buy this tool online or you can buy it at your local auto parts store (AutoZone, O'Reilly, Pepboys, etc.).
2. Multimeter or a 12 Volt automotive test light.
   • If you don't have a multimeter or need to upgrade yours, check out my recommendation here: Buying A Digital Multimeter For Automotive Diagnostic Testing.
3. A wire piercing probe.
   • This tool is not an 'absolute must-have tool' but I can tell you from experience that it makes it a whole lot easier to probe the S terminal wire for the start signal.
   • If you'd like to see what this tool looks like, you find out more about it here: Wire Piercing Probe Tool Review (Power Probe PWPPPPP01).
4. A helper.

As you can see you don't need anything expensive. OK, let's turn the page and get started with the first starter motor test.

TEST 1: Applying 12 Volts To The Starter Motor S Terminal

In this first test section, we're gonna' activate the starter motor by applying battery power directly to it.

This test, in effect, will bypass the ignition switch and neutral safety switch and get the starter motor to engage the engine.

If the starter motor engages the engine and turns it over, then we can conclude right off the bat that the starter motor itself is not defective.

The fastest, easiest, and the safest way to apply this voltage to the starter motor is with a remote start switch. You can find an example of this tool here: Sunpro Actron CP7853 Remote Starter Switch.

IMPORTANT: Before you perform this test remove the key from the ignition switch to prevent the engine from accidentally starting.

IMPORTANT: Place your Honda CR-V on jack stands if you raise it to access the starter motor!

OK, these are the test steps:

1. 1

   Disconnect the battery negative (-) terminal.
   
   You'll reconnect it back in one of the following steps, for now, it's a safety precaution as you set up the test.

2. 2

   Attach one of the alligator-type terminals of the remote starter switch to the S terminal of the starter motor.

3. 3

   Reconnect the battery negative (-) cable to the battery negative post.
   
   NOTE: Make sure that the battery cables and posts are clean.

4. 4

   Connect the remaining alligator-type terminal of the remote starter switch to the battery positive post.
   
   IMPORTANT: If your Honda CR-V has a standard transmission, make sure it's out of gear before you make this last connection.

5. 5

   Activate the starter motor with your remote starter switch. As you apply these 12 Volts (to the S terminal of the starter motor), you'll get one of two results:
   
   1) The starter will activate and will turn over the engine -OR- 2) The starter motor won't do a thing.

Let's examine your test result:

CASE 1: The starter motor cranked the engine. This is the correct and expected test result that we're looking for. You can conclude that the starter motor itself is not defective and thus not behind the problem causing the engine not to crank.

Since the engine isn't turning over (when you turn the key to crank and start it), we need to see if it's receiving the activation signal from the ignition switch. Go to: TEST 2: Verifying The Start Signal.

CASE 2: The starter motor DID NOT crank the engine. This usually means that your Honda CR-V's starter motor is bad and needs to be rebuilt or replaced.

I suggest 2 more tests and these are make sure that the starter motor is getting its 12 Volt signal signal and to test the battery cable (that attaches to the starter motor solenoid) for corrosion. This can be accomplished very easily with a voltage drop test.

• Go to: TEST 2: Verifying The Start Signal.
• Go to: TEST 3: Voltage Drop Testing The Battery Cable.

If the above two tests confirm that the start signal IS present and there's no voltage drop on the battery cable (feeding battery power to the starter motor), then you can confidently conclude your Honda CR-V's starter motor is bad and needs to be replaced.