Trouble starting

Tiny
SYLVIANOELLE
  • MEMBER
  • 2015 HONDA CIVIC
  • 136,000 MILES
What is your opinion about what is going on with my car? About a week and a half ago my car had trouble starting with a slow crank, then it started. It was fine the next time I started it, then did it again, then it was fine again. I took it to the dealership and they did a diagnostic and found nothing wrong so they said it was the starter. My boy friend talked me out of getting it done. He said it's hard to tell what's wrong until it won't start. He used to be a mechanic. So I drove it for a week and a half and it was fine. Then yesterday it did the same thing three times in a row. I called the dealership to have them order the part and they were closed due to the Corona virus and I had to take it to another dealership. They did the same diagnostic and said the battery didn't even register so I got a new battery. I can't help wonder if I should have gotten the starter. What is your opinion about what might be going on?
Wednesday, April 1st, 2020 AT 8:11 PM

9 Replies

Tiny
MOTOR MASTER
  • MECHANIC
  • 279 POSTS
Hello my name is Dave.

It sounds like the second dealership did a much better job of diagnosing your problem, if you had asked for advice before taking it to the dealer I would have first directed you to have the battery tested as it would be very unusual for a bad starter to intermittently drag.

If the problem returns I would recommend consulting us before going back to the dealership. Please let us know how it goes and thank you for using 2CarPros.
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2020 AT 3:46 AM
Tiny
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I forgot to mention after the first visit to the dealership we took my car to is where he used to work and he tested the battery and alternator and they were fine. I don't know if that changes your opinion. My boy friend wondered if it was a battery slowly weakening.
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2020 AT 5:53 AM
Tiny
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  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
If I can jump in and just ask to clarify some points that you made? When you say the battery was tested we need to make sure it is load tested and not just have a meter put on it to measure the voltage. Not suggesting that is what was done but we need to make sure that is how we test it. Here is a guide that talks about this:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-battery-load-test

Next I agree that this definitely sounds like a battery issue. The slow starting is normally the first sign. Here is a guide that covers this and specifically talks about this. Please click on the link but I highlighted and attached the specific portion where it mentions this.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/symptoms-of-a-bad-car-battery

Please let us know if you need more info or have questions about any of this and I am sure we will get it answered. Thanks for letting me weigh in.
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2020 AT 3:45 PM
Tiny
SYLVIANOELLE
  • MEMBER
  • 9 POSTS
This is so very helpful. I was all stressed it was the starter and I was going to get stranded somewhere. And they were going to charge me a ton for it too. I'm not sure I'm going to go back to the first dealership, they messed up my brakes at one point too. I will keep driving the car and see how it does, it was the original battery in there, so 4.5 years old. I will certainly let you know if there are any more problems. It was practical to see how to load test a battery and to look for corrosion and bulging. I'm so thankful there are services out there like this. I just don't know much about cars. This was quite educational!
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2020 AT 5:37 PM
Tiny
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That is great. Sounds like you are good to go but please come back if you have more questions. That is why we are here. Thanks again.
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Friday, April 3rd, 2020 AT 9:02 AM
Tiny
SYLVIANOELLE
  • MEMBER
  • 9 POSTS
I did have another unrelated question. I have always gotten the recommended services done on my car, one to keep it running a long time, and two, to keep the warranty valid. However, since I hit 100,000 miles it is no longer under warranty and I recently read somewhere you don't need to do the services as often as the dealer recommends, which is every 10,000 miles. What is your opinion about how often those need to be done or would you need to know what's done in the services?
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Tuesday, April 7th, 2020 AT 7:14 PM
Tiny
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We need to keep each post to the topic in the subject line just so that others can find the answers if they have the same questions. They won't find this answer under this topic.

Please start a new question and I will be happy to help you. Thanks

https://www.2carpros.com/questions/new
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Tuesday, April 7th, 2020 AT 7:44 PM
Tiny
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  • MEMBER
  • 9 POSTS
I did have another question about the battery. You had asked if when the battery was tested if it was a load test or a voltage test. My boyfriend said he did all of it when he tested it and the battery tested good. Can a battery that's going bad test good? I guess I was worried even though you don't believe it's the starter, a friend of mine said a bad starter could drain a battery which might be why it tested fine at first but not later on. Just curious and worried.
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Thursday, April 9th, 2020 AT 6:04 AM
Tiny
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Okay. That is possible for a battery that is starting to fail to test okay. Basically think of it like a grading system in school. A battery will fail if it is below XX% of overall charge and ability to carry a load. If it is above that it passes. If it is 1% or 10% above that it still passes. It's like getting a C on a test or an A on a test, both pass but are not the same. So it would be important to know the state of charge when it was tested to know for sure.

If the vehicle is running, just stop by a parts store and they can go out to your car and run the test again. They should have a print out with all the specifics. If you get this, just let me know what those numbers are and we can determine if you need a battery or not.
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Thursday, April 9th, 2020 AT 12:46 PM

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