Battery/Starter basics

[Les Huckins <jhuckins@xxxx>]

You need a volt meter, common little cheap VOM, Radio Shack or any
other. With the volt meter across the battery terminals, have someone
turn the ignition key to the start position. If the battery voltage
drops like a rock and the starter doesn't spin you probably have a bad
battery. If the battery voltage stays constant or nearly so and the
starter doesn't spin you have a bad starter or poor connection to the
starter. Move the volt meter and read the voltage at the starter (from
chassis ground) with the ignition in the crank position. If battery
voltage is there the starter is bad, if not, again, you have a bad
connection from the battery to the starter.