The interior lights and headlights don't appear dim when this happens....so I'm thinking relay. I believe in the '05 its under the dash and behind the cruise control box...? Just the right spot for these old bones ;-)
What do you think? Pulling the relay and checking couldn't hurt I guess....after that, maybe the starter solenoid or starter motor brushes?
Just as a followup, it was the starter. PIA job....
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How did you figure it out? I was guessing the main relay.
The resistance of the starter to chassis was 0.1 ohms, and the speed of the starter motor itself declined over time, even though the engine turned easy enough. Even with jumper cables it would crank very slow if at all...and when trying to crank none of the lights would dim and the battery voltage didn't drop much at all, so it wasn't transferring any power from the system at all. I did change the battery, as it was 7 years old and the winter is coming up, even though I pretty much knew that wasn't the problem.
The brushes were pretty well trashed. The starter couldn't have turned over a lawnmower.
2005 actually has a separate starter relay under the dash. You need to pull out the cruise control module to get at it, which is another PIA job....
Oh, I see. Those brushes could definitely pose a problem after a while. For my '94 Accord it was the alternator brushes I had to replace a few years ago. Fortunately I was able to do it without even removing the alternator body and the belts because the brush covers are easily removable. One of the few things that's easy on that car. When it came to replacing the main relay under the dash, I had to remove the front seat first so I could lay on my back to be able to stick my head and hands in that tight space.
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