2006 Hard-Starting

[CalLook67]

So I've had an intermittent issue with my '06 9-5 where it will crank slower and slower day-by-day, but fire up normally. It began doing this last fall, then got better for a little while, and recently has gotten even worse, to the point where sometimes it won't crank at all. The starter looks old, but is surprisingly clean and has good connections, the battery is fine, and trying to jump-start it does nothing. Should I be looking at a new starter, a new relay, or a new ignition switch? I'm sure there's some electrical diagnosis I could do but my wife and I are in the process of moving to a new house and most of my garage stuff is still in storage, so if anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them!

[CalLook67]

A new twist to this problem: this morning, I needed to drive the Saab as single-digit temps with snow make my other car considerably less appealing, so I went out and it started off by cranking incredibly slowly, then getting slower and slower, it finally started making some awful noise, almost like gurgling with some weird clicking, then ceased to crank. Then I turned the key off, then back to start, and it turned over normally. I've since been able to start it totally normally, even in the extreme cold today.

[CalLook67]

Of course, it turned out to just be a tired starter. Finally gave up the ghost a few weeks ago and wouldn't crank at all, so a remanufactured Bosch starter was ordered and did the trick. Starting is now easier than ever, it cranks so much faster.