car is hard to start after sitting around

[95se]

Car has been hard to start after sitting around for more than 6 hrs for quite some time. If its cold outside its worse but still gets hard to start even if its warm. 2 years or so ago had the starter, ignition key lock cylinder and battery were replaced but it got slow again. Few months ago my car wouldn't start at all. Had it jumped started then took it in and they said it was battery. Replaced battery again (CCA 1000) with top of the line battery. Within a week it started getting hard to start again. They checked fuel pump and it was fine. Alternator seems to be charging it up. Voltage is 12.8V right after its been running. The voltage will drop. After 14hrs the battery voltage dropped to 12.35v and it was very slow in starting today. I checked my parents Honda after it had sit about the same amt of time and the battery was at 12.65v. Car is std transmission with only injen intake mod and has 153K on it and in very good condition.

[EdgarGMH]

bad ground?

[95se]

bad ground?

Ok where? What needs to be checked?? My friend that works on 240's here says he probably should go through and check all the relays.

[GroundPerformance]

Check for short that maybe draining your battery..

[95se]

Check for short that maybe draining your battery..

Ok where? Where do I start? I don't know anything about electrical stuff. I am assuming this is going to be a nightmare and maybe never ending thing to figure out.

[fliprayzin240sx]

When you crank the car up, check to see what the voltage on the battery drops down to.

[cbcm2435]

i had a similar problem, my car would start sometimes and if it didnt i just had to jump it. turned out to be a corroded connection between the solenoid and the starter motor, cleaned it up and coated it with silicone and it never did it again. i thought it might of been the battery at first. just something for you to check

[WERDdabuilder]

had the same problem with mine with the whole hard start while cold but got a little better when warmed(diff from yours). changed the injector o-rings and it fired up fine and havent had a problem since. maybe try that?

[cotbu]

My car will not start if the battery voltage is 10.6 or lower! 12.8 volts after the car has been running. Do you mean operating temp? or start up then check the battery voltage? if it's the latter you have a charging system problem! You should be seeing close to 14v after start up (13.8) is pretty normal. You probably have other things going on as well, like a shotty stereo system install. Your 14hr battery voltage drop seems to be in range of an ok battery.

When you crank the car up, check to see what the voltage on the battery drops down to.
Try getting us this information, or if the drop is significant? disconnect some of your electronics or pull some fuses or do a parasitic drain test. I'm guessing about the charging system btw! Each car can be different! Even the leaky orings can have an impact on starting but I still think your charging system is faulty.

[ka24debt]

I have the exact same problem. If I leave the car off for more then 16 hours it barely cranks and dies. I throw it on the charger for 5 mins.. fires right up and drives good all day. Its good when its warm out but when it gets cold out.. its just an obv. Thing that I need to charge the car up in the morning. Its been 2 years, swapped motors, harnesses, ecu's and still same issue. Idk wtf it could be

[95se]

My car will not start if the battery voltage is 10.6 or lower! 12.8 volts after the car has been running. Do you mean operating temp? or start up then check the battery voltage? if it's the latter you have a charging system problem! You should be seeing close to 14v after start up (13.8) is pretty normal. You probably have other things going on as well, like a shotty stereo system install. Your 14hr battery voltage drop seems to be in range of an ok battery.


Try getting us this information, or if the drop is significant? disconnect some of your electronics or pull some fuses or do a parasitic drain test. I'm guessing about the charging system btw! Each car can be different! Even the leaky orings can have an impact on starting but I still think your charging system is faulty.

Right after start up the battery is at about 13.8v and right after turning it off its that as well then it slowly drops. I do have an eclipse head unit, 5.1 channel Kicker amp, mb q speakers. I turned the acc off of the head unit where I think it shuts power down to the hu then I tried disconnecting the amp from the battery but those didn't seem to make much of a difference. Autozone checked the alternator and battery. Said both were fine as well as the voltage regulator on the alternator. Here are some other issues I have had with the car. about 9 yrs ago the factory alarm starting going off randomly but my car didn't have any issues with starting problems with exception of a starter that went out about that time. The starter was replaced and was fine then battery went out 2yrs or so after that then car was fine for another 3yrs then replaced another starter, key lock ignition cylinder and battery. So about 2months ago another battery replaced. Also, the window in passenger side door will not go up and I think the door lock actuator in that door has failed where it won't lock. And the auto window down on the drivers side is going out I guess. You can put the window down but it won't come back up unless you pull the switch up 2 times. I assume those wouldn't have anything go do with the battery losing voltage or anything because power is cut from them when you turn the ignition off. But just thought I'd mention them.

[cotbu]

Can you start the car, right after it has been shutoff?

[godrifttoday]

Find what is draining the battery, what have u installed? Is your alternator working? Did u get it tested? Thinking and knowing it works are worlds apart

[95se]

My car will not start if the battery voltage is 10.6 or lower! 12.8 volts after the car has been running. Do you mean operating temp? or start up then check the battery voltage? if it's the latter you have a charging system problem! You should be seeing close to 14v after start up (13.8) is pretty normal. You probably have other things going on as well, like a shotty stereo system install. Your 14hr battery voltage drop seems to be in range of an ok battery.


Try getting us this information, or if the drop is significant? disconnect some of your electronics or pull some fuses or do a parasitic drain test. I'm guessing about the charging system btw! Each car can be different! Even the leaky orings can have an impact on starting but I still think your charging system is faulty.

Sorry, I was wrong about the voltages that I stated above. When the car is on, the voltmeter on the battery shows 14.33v. Then right after I turn it off it is at about 12.8v but then starts to fall. After 12hrs it will fall to about 12.3. Then it is hard to start. If I start it right up after the battery has been charged it starts normally.