Starter Struggles to turn engine over

[rotinaj13]

sounds like mine... i think the battery is about shot in mine

[mattswabb]

Could be that. Check the voltage of the battery with the car off and also with the car running. Something like 14 to 14.5 running and around 12 to 12.5 off. If it is low when running then the alternator could be bad. If it is low when the car is off the battery could be going.

Just take your battery, starter, and alternator into autozone and have them check all 3 and buy the one that is bad.

matt

[Tim]

It doesn't matter if it's been running all day or if it's a cold start; the starter is still sluggish.

I'll have to check the voltages. My small multimeter broke and the larger vacuum tube version is too bulky to drag out to the car, so Auto Zone seems like a good idea.

The alternator shouldn't be the problem, since it was replaced about 3 months before the I bought the Festiva. I believe it's still under warranty; will have to check the documentation.

If the battery's shot I might give the lawn tractor battery a try....



Regards,

Tim

[rotinaj13]

LOL I had to bump start mine 3 times last night. good thing my aspire is so light push it on a flat surface and put in gear dump clutch while tapping the gas LOL works every time!

[aithanmier]

well listening to the tappet bro's on npr last night and thier suggestion was to hit the starter with a hammer, maybe tghe brushes are trying to sieze up. of course if thats the case you should probably get a new one rather than carry around a hammer in your glove box...so i leave it up to you :wink:

[rotinaj13]

i like the hammer method it makes me feel better ;-)

[Tim]

I went and had the battery tested.

Under load it drops down to about 9½ volts. In other words, my battery is shot. It had even melted a little underneath the negative terminal, where there was a little indention in the plastic...

My battery was fairly new, so I went to look in the records for the receipt. Turns out it was purchased in May 2003 and had a 2 year warranty, which expired last month. Bummer!

But I went to O'Reilly where the battery was bought to see if I could at least get a discount on one, not really expecting any luck since the receipt wasn't even in my name (former owners bought it).

I showed the guy the receipt, and he said, "What the heck. I'll give you another battery anyway." I can't believe it. The thing even has another 2 year warranty, and it didn't cost me a dime!!!! :faroah:

[rotinaj13]

sounds fair to me

[Kitty]

Cool deal on that! Grats!