Hard starting

Lately and sporadically my '10 legacy Ltd is hard to start. It will crank and the battery light on the dash will flicker but it will not start. usually after I turn the key to off and then turn it back on it will catch and everything seems fine. However it is starting to happen more lately. I 'm not sure the dealership would be able to recreate it but am thinking it must be storing a code. The car has 21,000 miles. The engine about 2000 (don't ask replaced free by the dealer).
Does anyone have any suggestions or had this problem? Not trusting this car lately. Last night it took 4 or 5 tries to get it going after it had been warmed up then stopped for gas.

Have you checked the connections to the battery terminal? Make sure there's no corrosion or a bad connection. You may also want to have the battery/alternator checked. You can get that for free at Pep Boys or Advanced auto. Either way you'll want to take it to the dealer since it's under warranty and there's obviously been some other problems with it.

I was never impressed with the OEM battery in cold start situations. When I took delivery back in November '09, I replaced the battery shortly after with a 740 CCA DieHard and never looked back.

3 year 36,000 mile bumper to bumper expired in time? Engine components have longer warranty. Battery warranty is expired by now, unless it's been replaced.

This happened to me today... It was only 36 degrees out in the late afternoon. I had to turn the key four times before the car turned over. I have 29.3k on the clock. It's going in for the 30k service this weekend.

On cold starts below freezing, my 2012 2.5i cranks slow like a 1950's Farmall tractor. It does start up fairly quickly though w/ no dash lights. I've been running synthetic 5w30 in it too.

There's must be marginal capacity in the OEM batteries in these cars.

Joel

Magic keep us posted on what the dealer says/does on the hard starting problem.
So far my car has started every time but I am always hesitant when I do start it. It is in the garage unless we are going somewhere and then back in the garage. It is in the 40's in the garage but it has been known not to start right up there too.

The stock batteries suck balls. My '10 LGT never instilled much confidence in me when turning the key.

I'm not sure if the 3.6r uses a bigger battery, because that thing fires right up with no trouble at all, whereas I'd cross my fingers much of the time turning the key in my '10 LGT. Of course my LGT sat on the lot for a year before I bought it, so who knows, maybe the battery it came with just wasn't stored well.

I say just get a better battery, you're going to have to replace it in a couple years anyway tops, might as well replace it before you get stuck somewhere.

FWIW, I have carried a jumper battery pack in my trunk for years. $70 for insurance my car will always start is a small price to pay.

Originally Posted by TheOneDoubleN

FWIW, I have carried a jumper battery pack in my trunk for years. $70 for insurance my car will always start is a small price to pay.

Amen to that

I've noticed our 3.6 cranks slower on a cold morning but she always still fires up after about three rotations.

I also make sure the headlights,rear defroster,seat warmers and heater are off before turning the key.

OP I would say your battery is due for replacement if it won't start even when it has been warmed up. A volt meter would tell you a lot but with the problems your having I would just get a quality replacement quick.

I haven't had the problem within the last week or so. I was hoping magic marker had some info from his recent visit to the dealer. It may be that the battery is going but time will tell and it is going to be in the 20's here in CNY this week.

For cold starts with temps below 35 deg F my LGT struggles to start. Today it was 15 deg F when I started her up at 6 am. It took a good 20 seconds of cranking to get it to fire up. It sounded sluggish and slow, but did fire.

The battery checks out fine and is under a year old, as I purchased the car in March. The car sat for about a week between starts and it did the same thing over the holidays. This morning it sat for a day.

If it makes it through this winter, I will be putting in something better and at this point, it would seem any battery is better.

So my car was doing the same thing this past summer. Replaced the battery with an Exide Orbital Dry Cell and it's been fine but all of a sudden it's pretty cold around here and it sounds just like the OEM and doesn't enjoy starting. The battery is perfectly fine, there is something else weird going on with these cars.

Originally Posted by Blizzard

there is something else weird going on with these cars.

That's an understatement

Originally Posted by RailKill

That's an understatement

As much as they have a lot of issues I still really appreciate mine when the weather is horrendous.