How can I tell if my starter is going out or if it's my ignition messing up

Asked by Betty Jul 20, 2016 at 01:25 PM about the 2007 Ford Freestar SE

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My van has started dying when I go to
start it like it needs a jump but I can
wait a few minutes turn it over and it
will start but sometimes it sounds like
it's out of gas but then sometimes it
feels like the ignition might be going
out or the starter

103,215

KenF answered 8 years ago

Take it to any auto parts store, like Autozone, Advance, O'Reilly/Pep Boys... have them test the charging system (battery and alternator). Ask them to also check for trouble codes. You can Google the codes to see what they mean or post them here for help. Your battery may be borderline, if it has a dead cell it will not hold enough charge to always crank the starter.

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103,215

KenF answered 8 years ago

Forgot to mention in the above, the parts stores will do those tests for free. But double-check back here how to interpret the results, they do those tests for free as it may lead to a sale for them, so having a second opinion is best.

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