2015-EXL sluggish start
2015 CRV EX-L 4.2L FWD
I’ve been having this issue for months now, tried searching I here but couldn’t find an exact match of my problem.
It started at the beginning of summer, on cold starts, when pressing the start button, the engine would begin cranking then crank for 2-3 seconds before starting. Usually it starts right up in less than a second.
Did some research that said could be the battery, starter, wiring issue, some fuel runoff issue or dirty terminals. Not exactly helpful, and it still started, so I put it off. ChatGPT actually suggested something useful, putting it in accessory mode before starting to bypass the fuel runoff issue. That technique has been working great.
A few weeks later, starting cold, 2-3 second crank, then all my dash lights came on. Got codes read, came back as a faulty crankshaft sensor. Restarting it a few times usually made the lights go away. But on a few occasions, it wouldn’t go away and one time it was even in limp mode.
Got a new crankshaft sensor installed (not cheap). Still happened intermittently.
2 weeks later, NOT a cold start, engine just wouldn’t turn over as if the battery was dead. Got it jumped, went to autozone to test the battery and alternator, everything tested fine. Over the next 2 weeks same thing would happen, randomly, not always on cold starts, the battery would need a jump.
Got a new battery 2 weeks ago. Everything was fine until last week when my gf tried to start it without putting into accessory mode first. All dash lights came on, and went into limp mode. Restarting a few times got it out of limp mode, but the lights all stayed on until the next day.
Since then I’ve had maybe 10 percent of my starts be sluggish again, 2-3 seconds, and the lights haven’t come back on, but I’ve been always putting it in accessory mode before starting.
I’ve ruled out the crankshaft sensor, alternator, terminals and the battery, what else could be causing this issue?