bad battery??

[jamesmetairie]

05 Vibe, base model. about 185,000. miles on it. Walmart Ever Start =battery group 35 with 3 year warranty installed about 3 years and 11 months ago. Recently I noticed it didn,t start with the motor hot in a grocery parking lot. I tried again and it started . I thought I did not turn the key all the way. But today it happened again and the Vibe did not start. No CEL lights on the dash. I bought a group 35 "Value" battery at Walmart but it ain,t installed yet . . When I got back in the Vibe it started. Am I right thinking this could be a bad "starter". The "starter" is original..

If I bring the battery to auto zone , will they be able to tell me if that old battery is bad?

[SlammedNiss]

On a 20 y/o car, it absolutely could be the starter. It could also be a bad ignition switch in the column.
When you turn the key, does everything in the car turn on? Radio? HVAC? IOW, all normal functions?

And yes, AutoZone can test loads on a battery to see if it's still good.

[jamesmetairie]

In "accessarys" position only the radio and door ajar lights up. In "on" option all dash lights appear. and electric windows operate,etc. and the Vibe starts when turn to start. anyway I,m fixing to install the "value" battery now. Then take the old existing battery to auto zone for testing for peace of mind.. will update ...

[tpollauf]

I'm leaning towards the starter going bad. This happened to me on my 2004 Vibe GT last year and I swore that it was a battery issue based on the symptoms. Ended up being a bad starter which was the original with close to 200k miles on it. Been fine ever since replacing it.

[jamesmetairie]

auto Zone tested the old battery. said it is 100% o k .