difficult starting, starter motor?

[saskak]

Hello all,

My car has started to start rather slow (M59, 1.6HDi, 90bhp, 2007, 9HXC engine, 80k miles). It started to take a lot more number of cranks than before, i.e. ~5-7 to start, when the engine is cold, not necessarily when temperature outside is cold. It starts perfectly when the engine is warm, probably half a crank.

There are no errors with Lexia/Diagbox. I have a tyre pressure monitoring system (external on the valves) and it also gives me the battery voltage real-time. I also double checked the values with a multimeter. Once the car is running the voltage of the battery is ~14.20-14.35 if nothing is switched on and ~13.9-14.1 with lights and heater on. It seems, that the alternator is working as it should. The battery is ~1-year old, BOSCH S5 (63Ah or 610A). I started measuring the battery voltage before starting and it seems that is pretty consistent ~12.3-12.5. A bit lower than the required 12.65.

Does this point to a potential lazy/end-of-life starter motor or should I get a new battery for the reason that it is always below 12.65 and maybe there is a dead cell (battery is sealed). If the starter motor was easy to access I would have replaced it myself already, but will probably have to go somewhere to get it replaced.

Any help is more than appreciated.

Cheers,
saskak

[cancunia]

I don't know much about the 1.6, but taking a longer time to start when the weather is colder does sound a bit like the starter motor. My 2.0 was fine in warm weather when I bought it, but as soon as it got to October the starter got really slow and felt like it would stop turning. I changed the brushes and all has been fine since.
A couple of questions come to mind, does the starter turn more slowly in cold weather than warm, does putting your foot on the clutch while starting make a difference?

[polar]

Try giving your battery a charge first and see - at the voltage you have it could cause a problem when very cold.

[saskak]

I don't know much about the 1.6, but taking a longer time to start when the weather is colder does sound a bit like the starter motor. My 2.0 was fine in warm weather when I bought it, but as soon as it got to October the starter got really slow and felt like it would stop turning. I changed the brushes and all has been fine since.
A couple of questions come to mind, does the starter turn more slowly in cold weather than warm, does putting your foot on the clutch while starting make a difference?

I always put my foot on the clutch to ease the starting and have not tried without. It seems like it is turning slower, but it is rather subjective. Because it used to start within a crank or so, cannot quite judge if it is slower as have not really had this before. The weather is certainly a bit colder now. The battery seems on the low side with the 12.3-12.5V, but it does not seem so low to affect the number of cranks. Probably I should bite the bullet and get someone to replace the starter motor.

[saskak]

Try giving your battery a charge first and see - at the voltage you have it could cause a problem when very cold.

Last time it took significant number of cranks it was ~9-10C, so not that cold.

[Blackshuck]

You might like to look at my recent thread on cold starting problems - my 2.0 hdi started getting a bit sluggish starting in cold weather .
New ( uprated ) starter off eBay has made a big difference.

[cancunia]

If you have a charger, like Polar says try giving it a charge, out of the car. Alternators will not fully charge a battery as there's always something else taking the charge back out. While you have the battery out you can also see how well it holds the charge.

[saskak]

If you have a charger, like Polar says try giving it a charge, out of the car. Alternators will not fully charge a battery as there's always something else taking the charge back out. While you have the battery out you can also see how well it holds the charge.

I might as well buy one of these chargers and see what happens. Once driven for awhile the battery is ~12.8V, which is pretty much charged, then overnight it drops to ~12.2-12.5. I am not too sure if that is a good performance or not. At least according to what I read, it should stay to ~12.65, so there might be a bit of a problem with not holding the charge as it should.

I will give it a go with a charger and see if it makes a difference. Will report back for other people with similar problems. If it does not help, it is probably the starter.