How To Test your Accord Ignition Switch

When you are having problems with your ignition switch in your Honda Accord, it can be problematic to start your vehicle or to even get power. Because there are a lot of different points of failure for your ignition switch, testing it or knowing how to test your Accord ignition switch.

Today we’ll be showing you How To Test your Accord Ignition Switch in a 2001 Honda Accord Special Edition. But this procedure is similar on Honda Accords from 1998-2002. This engine is the 2.3L F23, but the testing procedure is the same for a 2.2L or F22 engine as well.

The tools you will need to test your Accord Ignition Switch are a phillips screwdriver and a voltmeter or similar voltage measuring device. You will be measuring the output terminals of your ignition switch to see if your problem truly does lie in the switch itself, and not the lock, tumbler or any other ignition component.

If your vehicle does not start or make any noise when cranking to the “START” position, or does not power your radio and car in the “ON” position, this writeup is for you. We have also seen some instances where this ignition switch melts or “smokes” because enthusiasts incorrectly wire their gauges or fans into the switch.

There are four positions of your Honda Accord ignition switch that we’ll be testing and taking a look at. LOCK, ACC, ON and START are the four positions your ignition switch can move to. If you are having problems starting your Honda Accord or you think your problem revolves around the ignition switch, you will need to open your steering column cover to proceed in our guide.

First open your door and slide your driver side seat to the furthest position back to give yourself as much space as possible.

Next pull down on the steering column tilt control and push your steering column all the way down. Leave the lever in the down position so that your lower cover can slide over and off.

Now take a look at the bottom of your steering column for the screws that you must remove in order for the steering column cover to come off.

Once these three screws have been removed, carefully try to pry the top of your steering column cover loose. Once you’ve wiggled the top part out of the grooves, you can remove the top of your steering column cover.

Now grab the lower part of your steering column cover and push it towards your passenger side seat. Pushing it towards the passenger side of the vehicle should allow you to pull the lower cover OVER the ignition key hole.

Now taking a look at the top of your steering column should reveal the main ignition harness as well as the ignition harness switch. The brown 6 pin plug you are looking for is located below the white plug shown below. Unplug this white harness to reach the brown plug in question.

When you locate the brown plug, you will notice that the six pin plug has one pin missing. We have excluded that  pin in our diagram below, please take some time to familiarize yourself with the Honda Accord Ignition Switch pinout.

Those looking for a concise breakdown of the Accord ignition switch :

• Pin 1 – White Wire – Battery
• Pin 2 – White with black stripe – ACC
• Pin 3 – Yellow – IG2
• Pin 4 – Black with Yellow stripe – IG1
• Pin 5 – Black with White stripe – START

Let’s get started on our How To Test your Accord Ignition Switch tutorial. First disconnect the negative terminal on your battery and wait for five minutes before starting. This must be done for safety purposes as you do not want to trip any of the airbags in your vehicle.

Put the Honda Accord into PARK and pull up on the parking brake to make sure your vehicle goes nowhere during these tests. You will be backprobing the ignition switch connector, you can also use a paperclip shoved into the back of the harness to ensure proper contact.

You will be measuring the continuity between the different modes and the wires themselves to test the ignition switch portion only.

With Key in LOCK position

There should be NO continuity between any of the terminals and themselves. Take the time to properly backprobe each pin as this is the biggest test of a broken ignition switch.

With Key in ACC position

You will be testing the #1 and #2 pins for continuity

With Key in ON position

You will be testing for continuity between pin #1 and #4

With Key in START position

You will be testing for continuity between pin #1, pin #2 and #5

If you do not have continuity in the locations indicated in the position of the ignition switch as stated, your ignition switch is bad and must be replaced. The part number for our Honda Accord is 35130-S84-A01 or 35130-S84-305.

Congratulations you have now completed our How To Test your Accord Ignition Switch Guide. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments below!