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Hi I got a 2012 civ coupe at about 100k miles that has some issues while cranking.

Most times the crank is fine, however I say 1 our of every 3 time it sounds labored and as if it is congested. 1 out of 10 times the crank will flat out fail.
Just now in a home depot parking lot it failed twice in a row. I tried to record the failure in my garage upon returning home, but alas, 5 times in a row it cranked more or less fine.

Any idea on what maintenance I can perform to help this before it winds down to a tow company call? Most times I know these issues are the batteries fault, however I feel like the battery should have completely failed by now if this was the issue as it has been going on for quite a while. I'm thinking spark plugs or starter.

 
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Any codes?

 
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Nope, no codes appear.

 
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Check the battery connections

 
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and don't guess, pull out a multimeter and check battery voltage, use a charger if needed.
when was last time battery was changed? With TN winters, mine lasts like 2 years.

 
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I'm going to bring it to autozone so they can check the battery, and whatever else they can do. I'll post an update today.

 
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So they tested the battery and they pointed fingers at the starter while indicating the battery was okay. I have some time on my hands these days so I may just buy the part and tackle it.

Edit my father seems to think its the batter, but I don't know doesn't seem like a battery issue, it would have hard died long time ago.

I'll just end up buying both probably.

 
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Try the battery first

 
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So I had the alternator tested at autozone and they said that the diodes were okay but the voltage regulator failed, therefore it is a dying part. The battery also showed at 60% charge after being driven for a half hour also reinforcing the bad alternator theory.

Can anyone chime in to this? Does the alternator contribute to the start of the car among the battery?

 
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we have tons of posts here saying that aftermarket or remanufactured alternators don't work well on the 7th gen cars.
Be aware of that when getting another

 
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No but starting the car puts a big load on the battery. If the alternator is weak then it won't be able to charge it properly

 
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Okay, but then wouldn't a failed start lead the char to another failed start until the battery dies? I could literally turn on and off the car 5 times and it would be fine.

In any case, I did buy a new battery, so I'm going to drive on it for a few days and see what happens.

 
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So an update:

I replaced the battery and the problem continues. I'm going to get the alt tested at another autozone, because when I check the voltage myself it reads 14 even thought they said the voltage regulator failed the test.

Can anyone chime in on the alternator failing the regulator test, but still giving proper charge? I'd hate to change a properly working alternator.

 
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The alternator in my Civic was putting out ~14V.....sometimes. It would also completely shut off occasionally kicking on the battery light. Not sure how the Autozone alternator tester works, maybe it's catching a similar intermittent issue. I installed another OEM used alternator and everything is working again.

 
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Mine does something similar. I'm going to have it checked one more time and then do the replacement.

 
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So it came down to the point where it would not start at all. We made sure the battery was fully charged and tried, and still did not start. To me this meant it could only be the starter. I replaced it myself (fairly simple, but a pain none the less) and gave it a few cranks and it starts like a tiger. So this seems to have concluded it. The starter was the issue.

 
Rep Power: 366

glad you found the cause without spending too much!