Hi guys. I'm having issues starting my MY02 with 150k when the car is warm. If I try to start the car immediately after shutting it off the car almost doesn't start.
My starter has been making noise for 20k miles now on/off so I have had some suspicions that the issue may be related to my starter.
I have swapped batteries with my MY01 and it didn't affect the issue. Additionally, the battery from the MY02 works fine in the MY01 car that has a presumably good starter.

I'm just really confused as to why the issue occurs when the car is warm.

Here are videos below that show a cold start and a warm start (right after shutting down).
On the warn start you can hear a clunking sound towards the end. Thoughts?

Cold:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmW_o0TuvNc&feature=youtu.be[/media]

Warn:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrFh1mTpMxM&feature=youtu.be[/media]

 

Trust me on this it's your battery when hot it won't recharge properly, I had same issues which got to the point the car wouldn't turn over at all once hot I replaced the battery and that solved it.

 

I'll have to do more testing to see how the MY02 battery does on the MY01 car when warm because that car always starts up much faster.

 

I second the battery. Just because a battery holds 12.6v doesn't mean it's good, you need to do a load test. Even a cheap tester is better than just a straight voltage measurement because all you could be measuring is the surface charge. To do a load test, hook up the load tester, and set it to half the cold cranking amps on the battery, and test for 15 seconds, do it at least twice. If it goes below 9.6v or doesn't hold at least 12.4 volts that battery is no good, or at least needs a good charge.

Ask yourself this, does the car have hesitation at lower rpms when it's warmed up? If it does I can almost guarantee it's the battery.

This car benefits GREATLY from a trickle charger, my completely stock wiring system draws ~.70mA constant with the key out, granted it's not bad, but not great either.

 

What do you mean by hesitation?

 

It's battery heat soak.

Just because a battery has charge, it doesn't mean it's state of health is good. Replace the battery.

 

I have similar problem, my car starts normaly when cold and starts normaly when warm, but sometimes when i stop, turn of the car and try to start it again, its like the starter wont turn at all. It slowly spins and stops. Then i wait a few seconds and the car starts normaly. Its weird i had a new batery installed and it was better for a few months, and now its comming back again.
This usualy happens once a week.

one more thing, the car can sit for 2-3 weeks even when its cold outside, and it starts normal, so i think the batery is ok. My starter rarely grinds, mybe once a month.

I have a year 2000 ap1

 

I'm not sure if you guys have read the full OP but I have swapped the battery from my other S, MY01 which has no starting issues. The issue still persists.

I put the battery that you guys claim is bad (MY02) into my other S MY01 and don't have starting issues.

Since I have already performed substitution with the batteries I am led to believe that it is a starter issue. If for some reason my MY02 experiences heat soak more than my MY01 I am thinking I should swap the warm battery for a cold one immediately after the problem occurs.

Here are videos of the bad battery swapped into my other S MY01.

Cold:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyQ84XZuElA&feature=youtu.be[/media]

Warm:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTHdTsnQAo&feature=youtu.be[/media]

 

Check engine ground?

 

Maybe, clean & tighten all the large wires from the battery to the starter. And the starter solenoid. At least, to rule-out connection issues.