New battery in Sept last year. In the past few weeks the car has occassionally taken a few turnover/cranks to start. It seems to be getting more frequent.

Took it back to Halfords for testing and (its a 450 battery) but its drawing 515. Alternator etc test fine.

Initially they thought the battery was overcharging but then changed this to ‘it might be a starter motor issue’.

Thoughts?

Check the earth lead for a secure connection where it contacts the chassis,gearbox/cylinder head etc, and a breakdown of the insulation/brushes in the starter motor can give rise to poor starting issues so it may also be at fault.

Is it cranking over at normal speed or slower

Its cranking at normal speeds

It doesn’t sound that much like either a battery or starter issue in that case- if it’s cranking fine but just not catching so you’re looking at something downstream of that. What car?

It’s not necessarily a problem at all tbh- it could just be a sign of routine aging/bagginess, sometimes cars don’t fire instantly. Often that’s something fixable but not necessarily something you need to fix.

Is this a cold starting issue or all the time ?

Is it cranking slowly? I had an old focus that used to get through starter motors. Think the case hardening was coming off the flywheel and being attracted by the magnets which caused problems.

It can be cold (first thing) or after a couple of hours.

Cars a 2008/83k

what northwind said

Petrol or diesel?

Subaru Forester petrol (manual). Thr battery is a Halfords own brand jobbie.

Switch headlights on and windscreen motor on, then switch ignition on, wipers slowing down or stopping means dodgy battery,

It can be cold (first thing) or after a couple of hours.

Cars a 2008/83k

I don’t have much experience with subaru’s but if it is slow to start (but starter turns over at speed) after a few hours then it could be related to a fuel pressure drop in the system, may be something as simple as a new fuel filter needed or get a garage to check it is holding pressure when engine is switched off.

The fact its turning over OK to me rules out the battery and starter
sounds Fuel Ignition
May just need a service,
plugs clean/ replace, air filter clean replace.

run some carb/ injector clearer tough with the fuel.

Car is due a service. Last was at 08/14 @ 69,000. Ive noticed slight rough running

Switch headlights on and windscreen motor on, then switch ignition on, wipers slowing down or stopping means dodgy battery,

Old wives tail , can be many things.

For me i would be looking st fuel system – either feed or return , spark plugs and coils/leads if it has them .

My last petrol car used to throw wobblers like this when the ignition system wasnt tip top. But id still look at the fuel system first. – and a leak doesnt have to mean a visible fuel leak – it can be an air in leak.

Was last service a major or minor – was a fair while ago…. ….. When were pllugs last done and ignition system checked over ?

Car is due a service

That’s your answer then.

I’d be looking at the HT circuit as a starting point (plugs etc as appropriate) and then the fuel system but really, I’d be doing nothing at all until it’d been serviced. You have regular preventative maintenance intervals precisely to avoid this sort of wooly problem.

project – Member

Switch headlights on and windscreen motor on, then switch ignition on, wipers slowing down or stopping means dodgy battery,

Or you have one of the many cars where that’s just normal.

Google suggests it’s a non-trivial job to change the sparks on the forester. So I accuse those, not for mechanical reasons but for human nature reasons.

TBH, when the car’s due a service the first thing to do is service it.

Try cleaning cam and crank sensors, if you get a poor signal from these scoobs won’t fire as the ecu isn’t getting the correct sensor sync, easy to remove and wipe clean.

could be any number of things, but its almost certainly not the battery or the starter motor.

Not very helpful I know, but probably time to take it to a garage for proper diagnosis – or (and this is the route I would take) wait for the problem to become more apparent/consistent then take it to be diagnosed.

The problem with ‘intermittant’ issues like yours is that the garage will almost always fail to replicate the issue, and/or they will change something declare it fixed, only for you to discover its not fixed, you then enter a very frustrating cycle of fix/not fixed at great cost.

Assuming its a petrol, it could be any of the following:-

fuel side of things:-
– Air in fuel (leaky fuel filter maybe?)
– Worn fuel pump
– worn fuel pressure regulator
– dodgy/blocked injectors
– dodgy/blocked fuel hose/filter

spark side of things:-
– dodgy spark plugs/wiring
– dodgy coil pack/wiring

electronics side of things:-
– a sensor failing somewhere

Switch headlights on and windscreen motor on, then switch ignition on, wipers slowing down or stopping means dodgy battery,

Every car I’ve ever owned does this, its definitely not a valid test for a dodgy battery