I've recently bought a used 2018 Ford Fiesta, 1.1 litre engine and only about 7500 miles on the clock - and recently I've been noticing that sometimes it sounds like it really struggles to start up when I turn the key. 

I can't figure out if it's normal or not, or if my car is on the verge of dying and needs to see a mechanic ASAP. It's really strange because it only happens when I go to drive home from work everyday, and never any other time. It'll sit fine overnight for 12+ hours, but when I leave it at work for about 10 hours, it sounds like this. 

No warning lights or anything and the battery voltage, although could be higher, seems healthy - especially after a good long drive last night. 

Is this normal or should I be worried? I've uploaded a video of the start up that's worrying me, any advice is appreciated. 

 

 

Tricky one...TBH, it doesn't sound like it 'struggles' to me, as such, it's just spinning for a second (if that) before firing. Is this as 'bad' as it gets?

Mind you, mine often surprises me with how quickly it starts on pressing the button.

Sounds normal enough to me, if it starts in under 5 seconds then I wouldn't worry. It can be little things like outside temprature, the engine being cold or hot etc. that effect just how quick it fires up.

Doesn't sound all that unusual to me. How far is your journey into work?

Lot of background going on there but the actual starting sounds pretty normal.

We have a SEAT Mii with a 3 cyl non-turbo and that also takes a few seconds to fire up, whereas my Ecoboost fires up at the first touch of the button.

My 2019 mk8 had done this a handful of times since I bought it last September.

They put it on a diagnostic test during service, but all was well.

But it sounds EXACTLY like yours in the video.

HTH

On 7/16/2021 at 10:41 AM, BlueMike2021 said:

Tricky one...TBH, it doesn't sound like it 'struggles' to me, as such, it's just spinning for a second (if that) before firing. Is this as 'bad' as it gets?

Mind you, mine often surprises me with how quickly it starts on pressing the button.

I guess I say it sounds like it's "struggling" because almost every other time it will start a lot quicker and this extra second or 2 has became quite noticeable. This is as bad as it get's though so hopefully nothing to worry about.

On 7/16/2021 at 10:48 AM, unofix said:

Sounds normal enough to me, if it starts in under 5 seconds then I wouldn't worry. It can be little things like outside temprature, the engine being cold or hot etc. that effect just how quick it fires up.

A friend also mentioned the '5 second rule' to me as well for starting time - and it's never been any longer than how it is in the video. Temperature could be the big factor here I guess? 

On 7/16/2021 at 4:13 PM, Blatto said:

Doesn't sound all that unusual to me. How far is your journey into work?

Very short journey - 5 minutes at most. I was worried about the potential effect this could have on the battery but I did some checks on it, every seems fine, and it gets a proper recharge usually later in the day after work and throughout the week. 

On 7/16/2021 at 6:18 PM, Chainsawcharlie said:

My 2019 mk8 had done this a handful of times since I bought it last September.

They put it on a diagnostic test during service, but all was well.

But it sounds EXACTLY like yours in the video.

HTH

Really? Very interesting. I did some diagnostic checks myself and nothing of concern was flagged up either. Ever get the fuel pump checked? If anything, I suspect this could be some sort of fuel pump related problem - but not a serious one.