I have a 1993 Corolla as my sig indicates.
Most of the time my starter cranks just fine, but every couple days or so when I go to start it, I get only a 'cchhk' for a split second then silence. As if it began turning over but died. I twist the key again and get the same result. So I wait a tad and try again. Generally after 4-6 tries it commences turning over and successfully starts.
This isn't like the when my first starter went bad and would only emit a flurry of clicks instead of cranking. This starter is probably about 10 years old now.
Generally if the car's been sitting for some hours it has no problem starting. The battery is going on 3 years old so at this point I could get a free replacement if that's the problem. I've cleaned the battery terminals and checked the acid level. IIRC the open circuit voltage was ~12.4V.
I'm a bit worried it'll leave me stranded, which it's never done before. Should I pick up a new battery or get the starter serviced??
