battery? altie? starter? lights are on, but switch is off, a concern

hey all, well, i've enjoyed my 02 for 9 months trouble free, except for a coil I had to have replaced, kind of like a spark plug. lately, when i crank her over, she seems to hesitate before actually starting. now slow grind like lack of power when starting, it's fast, but it doesn't catch and start, in fact. sometimes when i return the key back to off, it kind of just barely catches and starts, then sounds and drives fine. i've never had it strand me but the slowness, particularly after it has cooled down is concerning me. if i run in 7/11 for something and come back, it fires right back up. when i got it 9 months ago i had the battery tested and they guy said not right now, but you'll have to replace in the not too distant future. ok fine, let it ride. anyway, i had the battery tested today and they guy said it's not at 50% charge and with the heat here in Phx starting to crank up, I thought, let's just replace it and did with a 850 amps, big new battery. when i cranked it off leaving, it did the exact same hesitation. i took it back after work and had alternator tested and it checked out in spec. another interesting thing this morning was that once i cranked it up and let it warm up a minute, the lights were on but the switch was off. i got out and looked to make sure, tested brights, they worked turned on, stayed on, turned off, stayed on. i was already late for work so off i went... when i got to work i jumped out to see if they were still on and they were not. weird. also, i've had a dome light out since i got it but didn't worry that much about it. i changed the bulb to no avail. am worried that i will get stranded somewhere soon because the slow starting, not sluggish, just slow, seems to be worsening. now it's like, people look as if i am going to be in trouble because it does take about 2 seconds and is worse than 1 week ago. any ideas? the dude at autozone said could check the starter if i pull it, which i don't know how to do... just curious if anyone has heard of this kind of weird variety of issues happening and thanks tons for any insights.

How's your regular maintenance items, Air filter, Fuel filter.. and how many miles do you have on it now?

Those electrical gremlins still might be caused by the the alternator. If the diodes are leaking AC voltage into the system you'll get odd behaviors from the modules.

I'm curious about one thing... if you turn the key to run for a few seconds, then crank it.. does that make any difference?

I'm curious about one thing... if you turn the key to run for a few seconds, then crank it.. does that make any difference?

It makes a difference on mine. What does that mean?

The colder the outdoor air temperature is the longer I have to leave it in the "ON" position before starting it. Been that way for months.

will try putting key to on position for few seconds before cranking today. my 02 just turned 40k miles and i believe the regular mantenance is in pretty good shape since the woman that bought it new before me maintained it religiously. thanks! curious what it means if it does start fine after little while on but not cranked, thats where the dash lights all come on right? thanks again

"ON" is where the dash lights come on.

When it is very cold - freezing or below - I have to leave it on for about 3 minutes, and then sometimes it takes 2 or 3 times to the "START" before it starts turning over. This AM it is about 50 deg. and only had to wait about 5 seconds. Also, sometimes I have to back off a tiny fraction in the start position for it to turn over. None of this ever happens after the car has been started and runs for about 5 minutes (warms up). The car always starts immediately when it starts cranking.

It's been doing this for about a year and I've never understood why. Maybe Towncar or JYD has an answer. BTW, I have 190k on the clock.

well, i let it sit on on for about a minute when it was completely cool, ie, off all night, i think it did do better but dunno really. it still took multiple spins, wasn't right away like should be. so weird, at least the lights were off when said they were. weird. thanks,

chatted with the dealer last night and he seemed to think it might be a fuel sensor of some kind, just a guess without hooking her up. am taking in the morning. purchased the extended warranty so..... will advise what it is. sure hope the problem duplicates at the shop, but it sure did last night when we went out... w/a

well the dealer had it all day today and finally called me back. fuel pump needs to be replaced. thankfully have the warranty, only costs me $100, said without would have been $600, ouch. anyway, recomended replacing the fuel filter which i am doing (is considered maintenance, not warranty) although i think it prolly costs more than it should, it just made sense that if fuel pump was bad to do the filter to. anyway, theres the verdict on my 02...

Ya know.. it was the "2002" that kept me from mentioning the fuel pump.. I guess they aren't made like they used to be..

towncar, quite a disconcerting comment, but it is well taken. so, you're saying the 02's and maybe newer are simply not built very well? kind of has me squeamish. thank g i have the xten warranty. it's nearly paid for itself in the first year alone, well, 7 or 8 months or however long. not very long. should a fuel pump last longer than that? kind of a drag..

Well.. I should keep my mouth shut regarding the quality of new parts.. It just seems to me that 7-8 years isn't very much for a fuel pump.

It's good that your 2002 found an owner that cares

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