92 3.0 battery dead

[pushing300m]

If the vehicle sat for several hours (or sometimes a day or two), it would crank well enough to start. But, whenever I tried to restart after arriving at a destination, it would simply click or turn over slightly w/o starting. Today it did the same thing, but even attempts to jump start it would only get "the click". The battery and charging system were tested by an independent local battery shop two days ago and both were pronounced "OK". Help!

[Godofwarmike]

my dad owns a 97 and his battery light would come on and go out. had the system checked and they told us it was fine. about 2 days later car died and the battery was fully dead. turned out to be the alternator hehe.

[shorod]

Usually if the charging system is low, you'll get a series of clicks when trying to start. A single click typically indicates a problem with the starter or starter solenoid (integrated with the starter). You might try tapping on the starter motor the next time this happens and see if that gets the starter motor to spin over. If so, it's time for a new/rebuilt starter.

-Rod

[pushing300m]

Thanks for the quick responses! Turns out that it was the starter. Alternator bench tested OK; starter just clicked. Replacement turned out to be fairly easy to do. With over 300,000 miles, I'm figuring the alternator will probably be the next to go south.