New Starter or Alternator?

[dued]

When I turn my car on (s14 ka24de) I hear a loud grinding noise and my car is hesitant to start. This usally happens when my car sits overnight or more than 2 hours. My initial thought is that the starter is going bad, but when I turn on my brights with my headlights on (while car is running), the whole power system shudders as if it was going to turn off, including the engine, making me think that it might be an alternator problem?

[The Chad]

Test the Alt and battery for juice on a load. I think Autozone still does that for free. I'd put my money on one of those two. Not the Starter.

[dued]

Bump for more input

[SidewayZ-s14]

Bump for more input

Go do what The Chad said.

[ANVIL]

easiest is to get them tested.

or get ur battery charged/jumped and try to start it. if its charged and u have a 5spd u can try to push start it. if it starts on push start and stays on then it can be ur starter

[PhopsonNY]

You might have a short somewhere that slowly drains your battery over time.

[dued]

I forgot to mention that I did have the general electrical system test done @ Kragen's and at another shop. Both tests were inconclusive, one guy thought it was the alternator, another said it might be the battery/alternator, another thought it was the starter. None of these guys witnessed the horrible grinding noise that I described in my earlier post, when my car is being used frequently throughout the day, the noise dissapears for a little while. ?

[landins13]

the headlight issue is def associated with the alternator. the grinding noise on startup could be from the battery going dead, when the starter isnt getting enough power it will spin the motor alot slower than usual and it sounds like is grinding, the sound you are hearing is noice coming from the flywheel. it sounds like your alternator or battery is fucked so its not charging the system and when you go to start the car after its been sitting for a while it doesnt have the juice to spin the motor initially.

like its gotta wind up and gain speed before it will start. if this sounds about right check it out, ive had this happen on my sr, my battery was junk so when id start the car it would sound like grinding until it fired then the alternator took ovedr and all was well.

[dued]

Hey Guys, just wanted to post a follow-up for the resolution to my problem. My battery cable was bad, so a mechanic replaced some wiring & the problem is now remedied. Thanks for the responses!

[s14l0v3r]

either a drain that happens overnight or a bad battery/alt. is somethin left on all night inside the car? like a light? see if you battery is atleast 12V with car off using a dmm if you have one. and when the cars running check wether the battery is holding a charge of 13.5V - 15.5v. if so, your alt is good and you probably have a drain. but the only way to be sure ur battery is good, is by puttin a load on it =/.