Hello all,
I own a 95 Saturn SC2 and I've recently noticed a problem. When I start the car it will sometimes appear that the battery is dead and the starter will turn over very slowly. Usually, if i let it crank very slowly for a few seconds it will eventually start. Other times it will start up just fine; no noticeable problems.
It's obvious that the battery has no charge (and I did have to jump it once) during the slow starting cycles. I can't find a pattern to it. For instance.. It will have problems starting in the morning when I leave for work and start fine that afternoon when I leave the office to head home. Sometimes it's just the opposite.
I've cleaned the battery contacts, made sure everything seemed tight, etc. The alternator is less than 3 years old (the previous alternator died of bad bearings) and the Saturn dealership replaced the battery with a new AC Delco battery at the same time. Once the car is running I don't notice a problem with dim lights or anything else suspicious.
I don't want to buy a new battery if there's no need to and I don't see how it could be a bad battery if it's only happening every third or fourth start. I also don't want to dump tons of money into finding out what is wrong with the electrical system. Any suggestions or experience in similar problems would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Geoffeg