Here's the story.
Get up at 8:30. Start car and drive for about 10 mins. Park it round 8:45 on the street. Go to drive it again at lunchtime and i turn the key as normal. This time I have to hold the key whilst turned for about 5 secs or so before it starts. Go for a drive and come back round 1ish. Then at 3:30, go home and car starts as normal again.

What i'm worried about is why the car takes a while to start? This has happened twice now. Same scenario as above. On Monday (2 days ago) and today.
Usually the car starts as normal :S
Can anyone shed some light on this problem?
Thanks

btw
Car is auto AS200. Had full service done about a month ago.

Start with the easiest, checked the battery voltage? Should be 12.4V+ with the ignition off.

Could be the starter motor contacts or a sticky solenoid.

When you say hard to start, is the engine cranking while your trying or just nothing, no click, no starter motor etc?

I assume by cranking you mean it makes the 'sound' of a starting motor? It does that for like 5 secs before the car actually turns on.
I have a feeling it might be the battery, but i don't have the means to check it. Is there a place i can check it for free?
Also, if it was the battery, wouldn't it mean it has trouble starting ALL the time? Not just some of the times?

Most tyre places will check car batteries for free, pretty sure Beaurepaires do for a start....

Yep, just found that out. But they close at 5.
Although the guy did tell me on the phone that if it's only occuring sometimes, then its definitely the battery as if it were mechanical, then the problem would exist all the time?

Bearurepairs checks it for free, only takes half a minute, go in at a time when it's not too busy.

After the car's started, it charges the battery, so the voltage can vary. For a a bad battery, after not driving for a while the voltage can drop, hence making it hard for the car to start.

Yea i'll go tomorrow morning.
But the thing is though, if this happens after not driving, shouldn't it happen first thing in the morning too? As that is when the car has been parked the longest and also the coldest time of the day?

Sounds like it is most likely a battery issue.

The cells in the battery corrode over a period of time and wont hold charge, so the car might have just enough capacity to start the car the 2nd time, but when you go to start it again 15 mins later there is bugger all power left to crank the motor.

How old is the battery? if it is anything more then 2 yrs old you will be up for a new one. The lifespan of most conventional batteries is 2-4 yrs these days.

Oh ok, you're probably right.
I'm not sure how old the battery is, as i only bought the car 2 months ago, but this is the info i got from the label of the battery. Don't know if it'll help...

Brand = Super Charge
CCA = 330
RC minutes = 55
Max recharging volt = 14.8
NS40ZL

and from the altezza dash. When driving, the voltage meter needle points to a value halfway from 9 and 18, so about 13.5V.

Does that look bad?

What does the volt meter read when the engine isn't running? That's the alternator thats making the 13.5V, batteries only hold 12.4V
You're battery would have most likely come from Partmaster so get them to test it for you.

Here's where mine sits. Would be pretty colse to 14.4V I recon.

Mine seems like yours. But slightly closer to 9v.
When you say 'when engine isnt running' do you mean with the key turned to the on position?

I'd vote for that! Hardest time for a battery is first start in the morning, especially in the winter as the amount they store drops with the cold.

Once the oil is warmed up it is easier any time during the day.

I'd listen to the battery guy but don't rush to buy a new one, wait and see how the problem develops in the next month or two. Nothing worse than putting out a pile of cash and not solving the problem.

But the thing is it starts first thing in the morning fine. Just not the second time during the day...i'll get a battery check tomorrow, but how trustworthy can beaurepairs be? I've got a feeling in the back of my mind that they'll tell me i need a new battery even when the current one is perfectly fine.

Watch them test it. They'll use a meter, and put two wires on the battery terminals. The meter will say what the voltage is. If the voltage is 12.4V and above then it's fine.

You can't get much more than 12.4V from a battery??
Also the battery will have a surface charge which is not always indicative of the actual voltage its holding. A decent load tester will soon sort this out. These days a lot of places use digital testers which simulate a load.

EviLClouD if you've got a SuperCharge battery then take it to one of their agents (i.e Partmaster) Get them to test it. If it's still under warranty then they can replace it for you. Beaurepairs sell Exide batteries so will only be able to sell you a new one.

if the battery tests fine then my money is on the starter motor.
I've had problems with a car that started first time no problem but when warm the starter motor didn't have enough 'ooomph'. left it to cool down and she started no problems.

Would the battery be replaced though? Cause i don't know exactly how old it is. For all i know it could be anywhere from 2 months to 8 years?

Only the people at Partmaster could tell you that. I'm not physic ;)

Lol sorry, i thought you were :P

Anyways, just came back from beaurepairs. Their voltmeter thingy didn't say what voltage. It showed a 'good' result, which means the battery's all good. The guy then also told me it was probably the spark plugs causing this?

Mine does this quite often and at first i thought it was the battery, but now i'm not so sure. However, last weekend upon washing my car i played music for an hour or so and then started car and it was extremely sluggish. It barely started. But now it starts fine again :P
If the battery is fine then would a good clean help?? ie: sensors, injector cleaner

Just replaced the spark plugs and air filter as they were both worn/dirty. Let's hope the car's all good now...

On a side note, don't wanna start a new thread for this so i'll just post it here.
Is it safe to wash my car at a petrol station? I mean, using their machine car wash.
It's just that i have a feeling their machine will somehow snap the antenna that sits on top of our cars? :S

Go to the air blow ones, havn't taken the tezza thru (just go to wash world) but the air blows are good. Have had the wing mirror snapped off by the rollers so never again!!

Usually there are warning signs to close mirrors and take off antennas?? :unsure:

"Is it safe to wash my car at a petrol station?" maaaaate. no never....... :(

you can't beat a sponge and towel / chamios

I won't even use a sponge on my car. Get a proper wash mitt & rinse it a separate bucket of water before putting it back in the suds each time so you're not washing the car in its own dirty.
Have a read of this site, this guy has some good ideas when it comes to cleaning http://www.polishedswiss.com/#/washing/4529645597

If you have to use a car wash go to Caltex as theirs don't touch your car. WashWorld would have to be the worst place. Those brushes are so full of dirt & scratch your paint to bits.