4doorRS5spd

I have a 96 Accord Lx, and I think my starter might be dying, but I'm not sure.

Also, how can you tell if your battery is going to totally die? That could also be my problem.

Is there any difference between the symptoms of the two? I have never had a starter go out, or a battery for that matter (except for the occasional dead battery I have had to jump.)

Here's the story...
I installed a new radio yeasterday, and when I backed the car out of the garage before instalation, it started like a champ. So, I backed it out into the driveway ans installed the radio. After instalation, I let the radio play a little with just the power on, but not starting it. (Key in the second position). It sat there afterward for thirty minutes after I went inside. (The car was off, key was out of the ignition.)
I then, went to go to the store, so I tried to crank the car, and it was like the battery was really low. It didn't want to crank, so I jumped it off my Altima, and the Accord cranked right up. So, I drove around for twenty minutes or so to the store and parked and shut the car off. After I got back to the car, I tried to crank it to leave, and it was very slow to crank, like the battery wasn't charged yet, but it did crank.....although it didn't make the typical "Honda" starter noise that you hear when Hondas crank up. So, I drove around for maybe an hour and went back home.

A couple of hours later, I went to crank it up, and it started basically normally, so I shut the car off and tried it again, to see if it would happen twice. I cranked it, and it was very slow to crank, just like at the store and no classic "Honda" starter noise, but it cranked. I let the car run for about five minutes and went back in.

Today, I tried to crank it again, and it was still slow to crank, but it did start, without that classic "Honda" starter noise.

I have no idea what it is. Could it be a battery that is starting to go bad, could it be the starter, or could it be something else I haven't thought of? Note* the battery in the car now was the battery in the car when I bought it in October of 1999.

Any help/input/info would be very appreciated. Thanks.

civicjunkie

souns like ur battery is pooched

Jared

Agreed, time for a new battery bro.

MattG

The 30 minute radio time probably did the battery in. At 6 years old it is about the right time also. Most places will test the battery and your charging system to make sure its the battery.