[whiterider00]

for the past week or so, ive noticed slight issues with my car that have suddenly gotten worse. 5days ago, starting my car completely cold (sitting 10hrs), it took about 3 cranks of the starter to start it. seemed like typical dieing battery symptoms. next morning, my wife went to start it, and wouldnt start. i had to jump it, but barely had to turn the key and it fired right up and had no issues for a couple days.

few days later, i had the car idling, but not up to operating temp, and the rpms started fluctuating from normal idle (750) down to under 500, then a couple times to maybe 1300. only lasted for 10 seconds, then no issues on the drive home from work or the next day. today, again a slightly harder than normal startup from cold, but this time i had issues when i started driving. the engine ran smoothly, but no matter how much i pushed on the gas, the rpms didnt go up. lasted for maybe 3-5 seconds, then it ran fine til the next time i drove, and it did pretty much the same thing.

at this point i stopped at autozone to get my battery checked. the date on it says it was manufactured in nov of 2003. and its been in the car for the 6 years ive owned it. i guess that alone should be enough of a reason to replace it. anyway the guy tests it and says its reading almost 0. i dunno if it was volts he was talking about, but he said i should probly replace it soon, and get my alternator checked too.

now i originally thought it was just the battery when it was just starting hard, and not responding to throttle, but on my way home tonight, it got much worse. this time it got bad enough to nearly stall (rpms under 300), and i think it backfired once. this lasted probly 20 seconds or more.

i researched on the forum, and it looks like it could be the ignition module. that seems likely, as the car has over 198k, and afaik it is original. the other thing i thought of, is when i did the cam swap and everything a cpl months ago, i swapped idi covers. i doubt it, but maybe i somehow screwed up the ground or something. im gonna pop off the cover in the morning, and make sure everything is secure.

i guess the question i have is, can a bad battery cause the weird idle and shitty running conditions ive been having, or is it more likely another component.im gonna replace the battery either way, just because its a miracle the one ive got is still functioning. thanks in advance for the help. sorry for the novel.