Weird starting problem

[The Stickman]

Ok lately my car has developed this rather odd starting problem. I turn the key and it acts like it's dead. But if you hold the key every slow turn of the engine(very slow, like one turn then a pause then another turn.)get lightly more power then all of a sudden it starts. Most times if the battery is bad or there is a weak connection it will get worse as you hold the key in the start posistion, not better. What gives. It is kinda cool because people will say it's not gonna start and as they say that it does, like the car can hear them and doesn't like what they are saying.

[formula]

Well, a wacky proposal for a wacky problem....maybe your starter isn't putting out as much torque as it should, but it's still enough to just barely turn the engine--as the engine gets going, the angular momentum of the rotating assembly increases and more and more of the torque being generated goes towards increasing the acceleration of the crank, until it finally is moving fast enough to turn over. Instead of it happening virtually instantly, it's drawing it out over a period of time.

[D Impala95]

Start off with the easiest. Check all connections including grounds.

[cheapthrillz]

Had this same problem with my Z. It's the starter.... I checked everything on mine too: grounds, battery, switch, etc. Took the starter off and had it checked at the parts store and they couldn't see anything wrong with it (because they can't put a load on it), but the starter was in-fact bad. They're not too expensive, so I would just buy another one.

Good luck!

[ErikLS2]

I would agree that it's most likely the starter or battery but I would suggest a few simple tests before you just start replacing parts.

Place one lead of a volt meter on the positve terminal of the battery and the other lead where the large battery cable connects to the starter. While cranking the engine, no matter how slow it cranks, you should only show 0.1-0.3 volts on the meter. If you have 1 or more volts then there is high resistance in that cable or connections. Do the same test from the negative terminal of the battery to a clean paint free portion of the engine block as the ground side of the circuit must be the same wire gauge and free of resistance as the positive side.

Also measure the voltage of the battery while cranking, it should not go much below 10 volts. A load test of the battery and a starter current draw test are better tests but require a tester. Most Autozone's wil perform these for you for free. If you have a known good battery from another car try that temporarily too. A trick that sometimes works with marginal batteries is turning on the headlights before starting. I know it sounds strange but I've seen this work many times. I go out to a car with a known dead or weak battery and don't bring a jump box. Initially the engine will not even turn over or does very slowly. Turn the headlights on, wait 5 seconds and sometimes it will start.

These tests should reveal something so you only have to buy one part one time. Plus, they help the average hobbyist understand better how things work. Good luck.

Erik