Bad starter? CL9

[choppyshrimp]

Hey guys.

So my '03 CL9 seems to struggle starting up when warm, it would take 2-3 seconds longer than usual, however when I head to work in the morning and turn it on (cold start), it fires up perfectly fine. This has been going on for a little over 3 months now, not sure if its the starter because it has no issues when cold, anyone have any idea what's going on here before I bring it in for next service? *Battery is still 5 months old too so I doubt it's got anything to do with that*

Thanks!

[Martin77]

You should check the simple things first. Make sure grounding wires are OK. One connect the battery to the engine compartment, and there are two that connect the engine compartment to the block (braided wires) on both sides (one under the air box is hard to see).


I know some cars use heat shield wrap around their starter as too much heat effects the starter. Is this the original starter? Has the car been used or started often (daily?)

[choppyshrimp]

You should check the simple things first. Make sure grounding wires are OK. One connect the battery to the engine compartment, and there are two that connect the engine compartment to the block (braided wires) on both sides (one under the air box is hard to see).


I know some cars use heat shield wrap around their starter as too much heat effects the starter. Is this the original starter? Has the car been used or started often (daily?)

Thanks a lot!
Yeah I had taken a look at the wires, they looked fine. Original starter, sitting at 130km's and I drive it to work 5 times a week.
Will see what my mech. has to say.

[aaronng]

Quite normal. Even back when the CL9 first came out (mine is a 2004), we would experience some struggling to start when the engine was warm. We suspected that there was some residual fuel in the cylinder when you shut the engine off and hence was a bit more difficult to start when warm. Cold starts were no issues. Fast forward 12 years later, it still happens once in a while, but what I do is just let it idle for about 10 seconds after stopping before turning the engine off.

[choppyshrimp]

Quite normal. Even back when the CL9 first came out (mine is a 2004), we would experience some struggling to start when the engine was warm. We suspected that there was some residual fuel in the cylinder when you shut the engine off and hence was a bit more difficult to start when warm. Cold starts were no issues. Fast forward 12 years later, it still happens once in a while, but what I do is just let it idle for about 10 seconds after stopping before turning the engine off.

Well that's a relief, would've thought if it was my starter it would've blown after this long haha. I'll try doing that but it can still get pretty annoying, especially when I have passengers in the car who think it's about to die out on us Thanks!

[Martin77]

Improving starter performance is good both for the starter and battery, it prolongs it's life significantly.
I had my car for nearly 12 months now. Early on I upgraded the 2 grounding wires connecting the chassis and the engine block. I did not notice much difference on the starting. At the beginning of this week I installed thicker grounding wire from the chassis to the terminal (I'm not sure why I just installed it now as I made it a while ago). I must say this improved the general starting on the car (cold and warm). Aaronng and Fredoops, I'm sure have done something like this (grounding upgrade) and might worth asking them whether it improved their starter performance.

On something different. One thing I noticed today when I lock and unlock the door during idle, the idle went sluggish. Soon I will install my upgraded voltage stabiliser (pivot mega raizin) and see if it can improve this problem.

[aaronng]

Improving starter performance is good both for the starter and battery, it prolongs it's life significantly.
I had my car for nearly 12 months now. Early on I upgraded the 2 grounding wires connecting the chassis and the engine block. I did not notice much difference on the starting. At the beginning of this week I installed thicker grounding wire from the chassis to the terminal (I'm not sure why I just installed it now as I made it a while ago). I must say this improved the general starting on the car (cold and warm). Aaronng and Fredoops, I'm sure have done something like this (grounding upgrade) and might worth asking them whether it improved their starter performance.

I have 6 AWG grounding wires, but didn't notice a difference in starting performance. I believe the quality of your battery plays a much bigger role. I'm using Supercharge Gold batteries now (original size)

On something different. One thing I noticed today when I lock and unlock the door during idle, the idle went sluggish. Soon I will install my upgraded voltage stabiliser (pivot mega raizin) and see if it can improve this problem.

That is not normal. When I unlock my door during idle, the idle should not change as it is a low current activity (unlike A/C, audio and headlights). How old is your battery? Would be good to check your alternator voltage as well.

[Martin77]

Thanks Aaronng
The battery im using now is a standard sized battery made by Marshall (probably Exide) with 480 CCA. Its about 2 years old.
I did some measurement just now and the battery is 12.71 V turned off and 14.32 V when the car is turned on. Its takes about 3 cranks from cold today to start it.
The idle slump (I didn't see the rpm but I'm sure I heard it straight after the lock went up) went for a short period of time (fraction of a second or so) but thought its strange as the power consumed like what you mentioned is low. Maybe one of my door actuators is on its way.

[Martin77]

My battery grounding wire is 2 AWG (replacement) and the 2 chassis to engine block wires are 8 AWG (paralleled to the existing wires). They are all very short wires.

[aaronng]

Thanks Aaronng
The battery im using now is a standard sized battery made by Marshall (probably Exide) with 480 CCA. Its about 2 years old.
I did some measurement just now and the battery is 12.71 V turned off and 14.32 V when the car is turned on. Its takes about 3 cranks from cold today to start it.
The idle slump (I didn't see the rpm but I'm sure I heard it straight after the lock went up) went for a short period of time (fraction of a second or so) but thought its strange as the power consumed like what you mentioned is low. Maybe one of my door actuators is on its way.

Those voltages look okay. If idle fluctuates when you use the door locks, then it should also fluctuate when you turn the lights on and off. Try that out. However, from your battery and alternator voltages, it is fine. Taking 3 cranks to start from cold is normal too.