My car has been having a similiar but not quite the same problem lately. It starts to to crank but takes longer then usual and then proceeds to almost stall but never does. It had been real cold lately and I thought maybe the battery had trouble cranking the engine, but it even does it in when the car has been sitting in the heated garage all night. Hopefully I don't need a starter.

 

That was me...bert describes the situation exactly. My new battery negative post was just slightly too small and the connection was loose. Worked fine for a couple of weeks, but then one morning, it would almost start....almost. It seemed to just not catch. It went beyond the clicking I've heard from a dying battery. Someone told me it could be my spark plug.

But I called my dad and he said it was either the starter going bad or possibly the weak battery connection limiting the full power/CCA. I ended up shimmying the battery post with aluminum to create a tighter connection and then it started fine and has been strong for the past few days. I'm hoping that's all it was!

 

How old is your battery? I just replaced mine because the battery was draining after two days of not driving it and the daily starts were getting less powerful. It was the original battery with 63k and almost 5.5 yrs old.

 

I had the same problem as you guys, check your battery water levels and top them up. I got 2 more years of use from doing this.

 

It's probably my battery. I'm guessing it's the original one that came with the car so about 4 years old. It probably doesn't help that I have to park my car for a week at a time every 4 weeks or so. I sometimes have to be on call for work and as such, I use the work vehicle. I'll see how it starts tomorrow after sitting in the cold for a week.

 

Do you have a MOBIL SPEED PASS or any other CHIPPED KEYS on your key chain?

If you try to start a car with a chipped key and a Mobil Speed Pass near the key, the car will do that...


If you are getting the clikcing and it takes a few times to start, it sometimes can be the fuel pump...

 

Good point on the chip key. I never thought about the immobilizer reading it.

 

The other week my vehicle did not start. Popped the hood, shook the battery a bit and got a little juice. I ruled that it must be a corroded terminal. Removed the terminal and spent some time with some low grit sandpaper. Put the terminal back on the battery and bang - started right up. Maybe the
G's terminals oxidise easily. It was the negative/ground terminal btw

 

mine went out a few months ago. it was due to the remote start not retracting the starter after it started the car. the starter spun with the engine for about 10 minutes - by the time i went outside, it was pretty loud, and the engine would not restarted. had to AAA the car to the dealer, got a new starter. dealer said the excessive heat from the aftermarket headers (crawford) made the starter fail. w/e, i'm out of warranty anyway.

good luck with your car issue.

 

well, I got my starter replaced ... car works just fine now.

It also turns A LOT more faster ... my starter was definitely going out (was turning slow compared to it now).

 

What did it cost you?

 

i can be helpful sometimes =]DOMO

 

$150 mandatory diagnostic fee
$95 labor
$295 starter

total was like ~$570 out the door =/

 

the other day my service rep said its common for starters to fail after 70k

 

It costs 150 for them to diagnose a problem, ouch.