A couple months back in the summer considering I live in Canada I’ve had problems with starting my vehicle. It has been getting gradually worse and worse. I believe my block heater blew off or pull out or ripped. But roughly around this time my vehicle has been getting worse and worse to start. And especially in the winter time around -25 - -30 Celsius. In the summer my vehicle would get harder and harder to start as if it feels very sluggish and has no power whatsoever. And after a few days my battery would go dead. Or wouldn’t be charged fully to be able to start again. Now around this time of the year. When its cold my battery dies over night and it is nearly impossible to start it with a booster pack or start up helper pack. Even connecting booster cables to boost it. It turns over very very slowly while me holding the key and take up 30-45 seconds to start when it’s getting boosted from another vehicle. After I have gotten it started I have driven over 3-4 hours constantly no stops. And when I go and turn the car off and run into a store or turn it off. And go to start it back up again it will not start. And there is barely any crank. And my dash lights flicker and it starts clicking. I have no clue what this could be or if anyone has had the same issue. I have did those tests to see if you have a bad alternator and starter but things don’t seem to be that. But I have not tried replacing them or the battery. Cause I’d like to rule it out more. But have no clue where to start. Here is a video attached on what it does after Turning it off after a drive or letting it sit for a day.

 

You don't think maybe a robust NEW battery would be a good place to start? How old is your battery? It can be stress tested if you really need more evidence, but I'd start there. Just my opinion.

 

I will definitely try that. I just actually went outside and put a starter pack on it and turned the dial to turn the ignition on to start the car and I heard the starter rapidly click along with the lights on the dash when the booster pack was trying to give me the necessary amount of voltage. I have attached the video of it also. The click I believe is the starter but I am not sure. And the click slow faded as I was holding the key. I don’t know really the symptoms of a bad starter. But there was no turn over at all with the booster pack on it.

 

"Booster packs" or "jump kits" are only meant to give you a short supply of enough juice to crank the engine - once. And just like your main battery it depends on how old the "pack" is, if it's fully charged, what kind of power it's able to deliver, etc...

What battery do you currently have in your '05? It can't be the original, right? How long has it been since you replaced the original and what did you put in?

Just for a story, I tried an Optima red top in my old G for a while but the car was parked in the garage one month and the battery went flat. And it just never recovered. After fully charing it back up it no longer had any reserve power and would die when parked for only a few days. I'm running some high-CCA Odyssey batteries now that have been working well.

When you're shopping for batteries be aware that our Gs have the +/- reversed compared to many. Group 35, 34R, or 24F I believe are what you're looking for.

 

Batteries deliver massive amounts of current, hundreds of amps, to get the car started.

The way this works is that there's a solenoid (fancy name for an electromagnetic switch) which connects the battery to the starter motor. This solenoid will disconnect below a certain voltage, like 8-9V is common. So, what happens is that when the solenoid closes and tries to run the motor, the voltage of the entire system drops based on the amount of current that's flowing. When the battery is weak, and falls below that voltage while cranking, the solenoid can't stay closed and opens, and all of a sudden, the voltage recovers, it closes again, and the cycle repeats, that's why you have clicking. Your battery + starter can't maintain enough voltage.

These portable starters can't deliver enough amps to start an engine on their own. You'll have better luck in connecting it to the battery and leaving it connected so that the battery gets some charge.

Once you get your scar started, measure the voltage on the battery. It should rise to somewhere around 14-14.5V, if it doesn't, investigate your alternator. Either way, 100% chance you need a new battery.