Odd Start issue (very intermittent)..

[BigJimmy]

Hi there guys.

3 weeks into ownership, I have a nagging little problem.  I have a 2010 Titanium X Sport; 2.2.. and I seem to get a very sporadic start problem. 

Most of the time I can head to the car, press the Start button and allow the engine to warm, before pressing the clutch and starting the vehicle.

There is the odd occasion however where it takes longer to start. It seems to crank over for about 2-3seconds before catching.. although it feels like that first catch is a struggle.

There seems to be no pattern to this happening.  - It has never happened on a fresh start-up the next day (i.e - been sat overnight).

- It also doesnt seem to happen if you pop out and are back in the vehicle within a short amount of time

- Anything in between, 9/10 its fine but theres the odd occasion where it seems to be struggling?

Immediate thoughts were battery, but that doesnt make sense with regard to sitting overnight and being okay.  Is there a sensor that might be on its way out etc?

Thanks for your input.  Cars covered 56k.

 

Should also add. No other running issues. And if it suffers from this issue, once started its fine. No problem!

[pragmatix]

 I don't understand the first part of your post about letting the car warm up before starting it, do you mean wait for the glow plugs? So it turns over but doesn't start, is this turn over slower than normal if so it could be the starter motor, and signs of DMF break up, If the starter doesn't spin up to the correct speed the ECU doesn't give the signal to begin fueling, this is the problem I have now.

[BigJimmy]

Ye. If you press the start button - Convers gives you the message that the engine is preheating before the glow plug light goes out and it tells you its okay to start.

There is no slowing in the crank speed, thats constant. It doesnt get to a point where its slowing down. And its not cranking (audibly) at a different speed than when it starts no problem.