just last week my car is starting to crank slow, it all ways starts though. red top opimum battery. the battery shows 12.6 volts when the car has been sitting for a while, i turn the key to on and it is a couple of marks above the yellow area, when i cranks it goes into the yellow now, but i havent had the battery go dead on me yet. 13volts plus going down the road. is this a sign that why starter is going bad/

 

Slow cranking can be the result of:
High resistance in battery cables
Poor positive cable connection
Poor negative cable connection (at engine or battery)
Poor Engine to chassis ground
Starter bushings going bad & starter armature dragging (will get high amperage readings)
low charge on battery
battery going bad

Start with the easy stuff - check all your connections and cables for corrosion. Make sure you have a good engine to chassis ground - you can easily try a temp ground by attaching 1 end of a jumper cable to the engine & the other end to a good chassis ground. Do some detective work, don't throw parts at it!
Good Luck,
Corky

 

A battery can show good voltage yet cranking amps can be very low. I've had a red top optimum for over a year now and am beginning to see the same thing. Take it to Sears and have it checked out, it's usually free.

 

the battery i know is good and not that old, the connections to the starter are good. the starter has been giving me problems in the past, i would go to start it and it would just cease up. i would then crank it again and it would start then, more than likely the original starter.