After my battery recently drained because I left my lights on, my starter has been acting strange. At first I thought the battery could not keep a charge, but after many long and short trips, the starter acts the same. At first crank it labors, like the battery is almost dead, and then on the second and third rotation is speeds up slightly. Nothing like the speed it had previously.

I now suspect the starter because after a quick drive home, with the engine warm, I tried a restart in the driveway and it sounded the same... almost dead. That rules out a drain somewhere in the electrical system and also a lot of load from a cold engine.

Has anyone had this problem? Is the starter and/or solenoid able to be repaired? or should it be replaced/cleaned?

Thanks for the advice.