Battery power reducing

[akpud]

Hi Folks - here's the problem. 98 Boxster, 60K Miles, New Battery. 1st start in the morning - no problem. Drive on the highway to work, stop for coffee - 2nd start a little harder. Stop for gas - 3rd start a little harder. If I'm doing errands around town, on each successive start the engine takes a little longer to fire up - but so far it has always started.

Also, after the most difficult start - if I leave the car at work all day and then start if at the end of the day - the car starts no problem.

So, to sum up, after a few hours parked - the car starts perfectly. But on successive starts, it takes the engine longer and longer to fire up.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

akpud

[White987S]

Are you using good fuel? 93 octane? Maybe you need to run a couple sessions of a high quality fuel injector cleaner through your engine. Select one with Techron.

[spycarrussell]

Hi Folks - here's the problem. 98 Boxster, 60K Miles, New Battery. 1st start in the morning - no problem. Drive on the highway to work, stop for coffee - 2nd start a little harder. Stop for gas - 3rd start a little harder. If I'm doing errands around town, on each successive start the engine takes a little longer to fire up - but so far it has always started.

Also, after the most difficult start - if I leave the car at work all day and then start if at the end of the day - the car starts no problem.

So, to sum up, after a few hours parked - the car starts perfectly. But on successive starts, it takes the engine longer and longer to fire up.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

akpud

Years ago the symptoms you described might have been due to "vapor lock" especially if you are in a warm part of the country. This means latent engine heat after shutdown was conspiring to "boil" fuel in the lines and because a gas is compressable, the fuel pump wouldn't be able to "push" the fuel into the carb. Lengthy cooldown would restore the operation by allowing the fuel to condense back into a liquid. Modern fuel-injected motors, with their higher fuel pressures are not usually susceptible to this. Just a thought.

[akpud]

Are you using good fuel? 93 octane? Maybe you need to run a couple sessions of a high quality fuel injector cleaner through your engine. Select one with Techron.

Yes - I've now started to use 94 Octane.

Earlier today I spoke with a dealer and they think it might be the starter which (if wearing out) would work less efficiently as it heats up. That would explain why it works perfectly first thing in the morning ot anytime after it's been sitting idle for a few hours. He said that if it was the battery or the charging system it would worsen after may starts. The starter answer seems to make some sense. (He also said that the starter is positioned in the vehicle in a place that is very susceptible to being heated up.

Any further advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

akpud

[akpud]

Update..........

Starter replaced and everything is AOK!

Incidentally, when I picked up the car the CEL was off (although it was not reset by the repair shop). Two days later it came back on - but the car is running beautifully!

Thanks for the help!

akpud