Hi.

Three months ago I noticed the car sounded weak for a second before starting. This happened maybe four times in a three week span. It took an extra second longer than usual to start. But, actually, on the fourth time, I was just moving it to the street for a while to make space on my driveway for something. An hour later, went back to bring car back in and would not start. Used my booster unit but it didn't work right away. I left it attached for about 20 minutes and then it started. The battery is 3.5 years ago and my multimeter says it's fine. I decided to call CAA (AAA in Canada) to come test it since both wife and I have the service and he said battery is fine. I hadn't had a weak start since, which is about two months.

This Friday I drove for some errands. Three times I started the car fine within an hour, going from store to store. Last store, I'm in there two minutes. Come back and absolutely nothing. Won't even try to crank. It was as if there was no battery in the car at all.

I happened to be right across the street from a mechanic I've used before and he came over and tested the battery and it was fine. He also tested my booster, which was giving full readings. He guessed starter. CAA came and he also guessed starter before towing the car across the street. Mechanic did his diagnostics and said it's the starter, which he says is the original.

Next day went to go pick up the car from mechanic and on most starts, it takes just a little bit longer than usual to start, but as you can hear, it gives like a sputtering sound. It definitely does not sound the same as before.

I actually had my '06 Fusion's starter replaced last October and it sounds exactly the same but actually starts slightly quicker.

I asked the mechanic if I was going to have to bring it in to the dealer to see what they think. He said drive it around for a while and report back on Monday. Well, I'm going to have to bring it back in. He said it took four hours for him to do the job because of how it's placed in the Accord. On my Fusion, for comparison, I think that was an hour at most.

Any ideas why it would act and sound like this? Thanks for the help.

 

stripped teeth on either starter or engine