Suspect starter gone
 

Or maybe I hope so, compared to what else it could be. Horn honks with headlights on, indicating battery is OK. A couple times in the past week it has been slow to start. Both times I charged battery and it was OK, but now the starter makes a couple bleats but doesn't turn it over. Since I apparently have a fully charged battery now, I think I can rule out a parasitic drain. Boy I hate those. I'm just hoping there's a starter in the country somewhere.

The horn honking with the headlights on DOES NOT indicate the battery is good. It takes a whole lot more current to turn the starter. Before you run out and buy a starter, at least try to jump the battery first. If that doesn't work, check all the connections. Especially the grounds.

Check voltage of battery when you try to start it. If the voltage stays stable(10v or more) it could be the starter. If not then could be the battery.

Agreed. It’s a guessing game trying to diagnose vehicle issues without the proper tools. Invest in a decent quality multi-meter and jumper pack and try again.

Thanks for the good advice from everyone. I'll take another look at it.

I have a couple multi meters, but I'm pretty sure it's the battery now anyway. I charged it yesterday but it wouldn't go this morning. I just put a brief fast charge on it and it started. I was fooled originally because I took it to Goodyear a few days ago hoping for a load test, but they don't do those. All they found was that it was fully charged, and that's because I had it on a slow charge overnight.


Goodyear has a battery I can get today. Thanks again to everyone. This forum is a great resource.

New battery is in.

now to the elephant in the room.

why is your battery constantly draining down?

batteries don't just go dead.

Batteries certainly do go dead.
It takes usually at least a couple years. But, then they just go dead.
Used to be they would slowly die. But lately it seems like they're good one day and dead the next.
If you know of a battery that doesn't go dead, I want one. I'll pay extra for it. Here in Florida my battery usually lasts for about two to three years. Then it just goes dead. Just like that.

ah, i misread the first post that he had replaced the battery twice, and it still wasn't starting correctly.

Monitoring electrolyte levels? That seems awfully quick.

To clarify, the battery I just replaced was 3 years and 3 months old. The problems started about 3 weeks ago when I left the trunk cracked open overnight and had a dead battery the next day. I put an off-and-on slow charge on it and it worked fine for the next few days. My charger doesn't have an automatic cutoff so I didn't want to leave it charging overnight. It seemed OK, but would sound a bit weak at times, until it wouldn't start one morning again. I put a slow charge on it all day and took it to Goodyear the next day hoping for a load test, but they don't do those. All they gave me was a fully-charged report and said the battery was good. After sitting unused in the garage for two days, it wouldn't start again. That's when I suspected a starter. You guys got me straightened out on that. I gave it a quick fast charge, started it and drove to get a new battery yesterday. It started fine this morning.



My automatic test has always been to honk the horn with headlights on, but you guys got me straightened out on that too. I tend to drive cars for a long time, and thus don't keep up on new developments. My previous two Miatas I drove for about 10 years each.



I haven't done any instructing for about 8 years due to business stuff, so I realize I'm going to have to get current on a lot of developments so I can answer student's questions. I'm hoping to have the FRS track ready by fall when it gets cool enough here. I'll be hitting the books in the meantime as well.

Always remember that once you drain a lead-acid battery down completely, permanent damage is done to it and the battery will never be the same as it was before. And newer batteries are not of the same quality as older ones. It seems that they are all built cheaply now versus how they were 20 or even 10 years ago.

It's Florida - what can I say - :lol: