When starting my car in the morning, i hear a click but nothing happen, however, on the second or third trials, it begins to turnover (sometimes slowly) and the car will start. No problem restarting during the day, until the next morning, when things repeat. At first I thought it was the battery, got a new one, works good for a few days then it happens as before. Could that be I got a short somewhere draining the battery? I pulled the spark plugs last month, and two of the plugs are wet with engine oil (on the inside). Is it time for a newer car or this is fixable? Don’t know if it is even related to the problem I am having. Car is 12 years old corolla 1999.
Get the alternator, starter and battery tested and clean the battery cables.
This sounds like a bad starter, not a bad battery or alternator. If you had a weak alternator the charge light should be lit, same thing with a failing battery. If the charge light (looks like a battery) is not lit, replace the starter.
Thanks for the comments. What puzzles me is it only occurs first thing in the morning when the car has been idle for 10+ hours. Once i got the car to start, there’s no problem to get it restarted for the rest of the day. So i wonder if it were the starter, it should do the same each time I try to start the car during the day…
It’s probably the starter solenoid contacts. The contacts wearing down is a pretty well known problem on the denso starters, particularly at that age. You can get the contacts separately at a pretty low cost. Available at the dealer as well as various places online. But if you can’t install yourself, you’re probably better off getting a rebuilt starter put in.