The most common cause of these symptoms is a bad battery with one shorted cell. Start by measuring the voltage with a digital voltmeter. If it's fully charged it will read 12.6 volts. If it's good but discharged it will read around 12.2 volts. If you find closer to 11 volts, it has a shorted cell and must be replaced.
Bad connections on the battery cables can cause this too, although typically it will cause a failure to crank and you'll just hear a rather loud clunk from the starter solenoid. It depends on where the bad connection is.
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Saturday, July 27th, 2013 AT 5:42 PM