Slow cranking Civic

[Ausfahrt]

My 2002 Honda Civic that I bought new recently began cranking over sluggishly. The battery was over 6 years old so I replaced it without a second thought. It still cranks slowly and is getting worse.
I thought that maybe the alternator wasn't charging properly so I turned on the a/c and headlights before disconnecting the battery and the engine didn't miss a beat so the alternator seems to be charging.

I removed the starter and took it to my local auto parts shop to have it bench tested and it tested good.

I then took the new battery back to have it load tested just to make sure that I didn't buy a faulty battery and it tested fine. The car will barely crank at all now and I am at a loss as to how to proceed. Any thoughts?

 

[tinmanSC]

One assumes you are getting a good connection at the + and - terminals? No corrosion, lots of pressure?

 

[Ausfahrt]

Yes.
Cleaned and properly snugged, I even bought those felt rings to help prevent corrosion although that had not been an issue.

 

[Dan55]

Maybe this http://www.discountstarterandalternator....CFdSY4AodOn4Alg

 

[cmorr]

Check the ground cable form the starter to the engine block. Pull back the insulation if necessary to confirm it's solid

 

[Ausfahrt]

Good thought and thanks for the reply but the solenoid is attached to the starter and was bench tested with the starter.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: cmorr
Check the ground cable form the starter to the engine block. Pull back the insulation if necessary to confirm it's solid


Good idea, thanks. I will check that in the morning when I have light.

 

[Eddie]

When you've cranked the engine for 20 seconds or so, then feel all the ground connections. When you find a warm or hot one, you've found the problem.

 

[NHGUY]

The engine is tightening up somehow..maybe try cranking it over with a ratchet on the crank bolt.

 

[caravanmike]

factory lube points in starter could be getting dry from use and age?

 

[JHZR2]

Your test on the alternator is faulty. We need voltage readings including with the car sitting at idle a while with all the loads on - I know the inlaws accord was failing by that.

Have the valves ever been adjusted?

 

[crazyoildude]

its probably the starter anything else would be getting hot and will burn out.. Change the starter most places are not able to load test them

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
its probably the starter anything else would be getting hot and will burn out.. Change the starter most places are not able to load test them


Bingo, we have a winner!

It was the starter after all, and like COD said they tested it but not under load.

After thinking about it all night (I work the graveyard shift)I kept coming back to the starter so I took it to a different auto parts store this morning to have it checked out again and it checked FAIL.

So the current auto parts score is:
Autozone=1
Advance=0

Thanks to all of you who took the time to read about my problems and especially to those of you who offered suggestions without ever seeing the car. You guys are great.